The Danish national team for the end of month friendlies with Netherlands and Serbia was announced yesterday and included Mathias Jensen, Christian Norgaard and to great media attention, the return of Christian Eriksen, all of Brentford.

 

Eriksen has made an eye catching return to football and it is clear he retains most, possibly all, of his abilities, he looks a class apart anyone he has faced so far in the EPL and has that talent which sets him and all great players apart, and that is time on the ball, they just seem to have more of it than mere mortals !

 

His return to football was always likely to be good for Brentford, the Bees have struggled big time from open play in recent months , creating the second fewest non set piece chances in the EPL, but it is not just in that regard that Eriksen can and has already helped, the West London side were one of the first to appoint a set piece coach and are very inventive from dead balls and the Danish star created more chances from set plays than any other player in the EPL, prior to his departure to Italy. There is already talk of Eriksen joining a bigger club once his six month contract is up, but I am not so sure. What the recently turned 30 yo went through was not just career, but life threatening and incidents like that tend to concentrate the mind and to make the individual focus on what is truly important . Brentford are the perfect fit, he knows the club will not put any pressure on him, hence how laid back they were about the length of the initial contract, despite all the hard work put into the deal. At Jersey Road, the training centre and Lionel Road stadium, he is the star of the show and that will not always be the case elsewhere. I don't think he is particularly financially motivated, he has said as much and all he wants to do is play at the World Cup and he is already back in the national team. Also, Brentford is basically Copenhagen by the Thames ! Head coach Thomas Frank and his number two Brian Riemer are Danish, as are the aforementioned Jensen and Norgaard, plus SIX other first team squad players, four others are Scandinavian. Add in the respective partners of this group and it is a very Danish/Scandinavian environment that Eriksen and his family can feel comfortable in, more so than at any other team outside Denmark and he is not going to be playing his club football in his homeland, at least not yet !

 

Brentford have scored five goals in his two starts, as many as in their previous 11 outings, he assisted for one from open play, was pivotal in another from a set piece, he immediately feels at home and Brentford instantly look a stronger team, pretty much all their long term and multiple injury problems have cleared, the club look a win away from EPL safety and once that is achieved, I expect them both (player and team) to look to kick on over the closing months of the season and make up for lost time.

 

Good luck !