FIFA World Cup 2018: Denmark

FIFA World Cup 2018: Denmark

Out of all of the European sides that have qualified for the World Cup this summer in Russia it may be Denmark who have the widest spectrum of expected performance. On one hand you would not be terribly surprised to see them fail to qualify from the group stage whilst on the other if they were to reach the quarter-final stage then it would be no great shock. Indeed with the exception of perhaps Argentina and Lionel Messi Denmark are perhaps the side at the World Cup who rely most on an individual player igniting and playing at the top of his game, that player? Christian Eriksen.

The Tottenham playmaker is in his age 26 season and is about to enter his peak years. Given a great deal of creative freedom in terms of his positioning on the field and his use of the ball the Danish public will be on the edge of their seats whenever their talisman has the ball at his feet.

Other than the cerebral Eriksen the rest of the Danish squad is a mix of pace and power that should serve them well as they look to play in the transition more than they look to hold possession of the ball for prolonged periods of time. They attack quickly when winning the ball back with the pace of Pione Sisto on the left-hand side of the field in particular extremely helpful in stretching the opposition defensive structure.

The Squad

Coach  Aga Hareide

Hareide has been in charge of the Danish national team since 2016, a coach with extensive experience coaching in Scandinavia with spells in Norway, Sweden and Denmark although he has never coached outwith the region.

The Norwegian is a pragmatic coach who prefers a defence first option although he has been marry this approach with getting the best out of Eriksen in the attacking phase. Hareide does, however, understand the Scandinavian mentality extremely well and this stands him in good stead to get the best out of his team as an organised defensive unit.

There is a concern over the lack of goals that the strikers in the squad have scored for their club sides this season. The RB Leipzig forward Yussuf Poulsen is likely to start from a wide position before moving centrally to support the Feyenoord forward Nicolai Jorgensen.

Goalkeepers

Jonas Lossl, Frederick Ronnow, Kasper Schmeichel

Defenders

Peter Ankersen, Andreas Bjelland, Nicolai Boilsen, Andreas Christensen, Riza Durmisi, Matthias Jorgensen, Simon Kjaer, Jens Stryger Larsen

Midfielders

Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Mike Jensen, William Kvist, Lukas Lerager, Lasse Schone, Pione Sisto

Forwards

Nicklas Bendtner, Martin Braithwaite, Andreas Cornelius, Nicolai Jorgensen, Yussuf Poulsen

Tactics

In the qualification playoff to qualify for the World Cup Christian Eriksen was the difference maker that carried the Danes through into the tournament. Here you can see an example of the spaces that he takes up on the edge of the final third. With the opponents looking to press and force the ball backwards Eriksen will simply read the spaces on the field and drift into where he can cause maximum damage.

His role in drifting into space forces the opponents to make a decision in terms of marking him directly and leaving them short elsewhere or letting him drift and hoping that the defensive structure as a whole will shut down the zones of space.