Why Eriksen’s return might not be enough for him

Inter completed their seventh consecutive home win against Benevento on Saturday night. The Nerazzurri collected the three points thanks to an own goal from Ricardo Improta, and goals from both strikers Lautaro Martinez followed by two Romelu Lukaku hits.

Another important instance though was that Christian Eriksen was handed his first league start since mid-December to make it five as he played a part in Inter’s 4-0 victory over Benevento on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old scored his first goal of the season and the winner against AC Milan in the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia with a late free-kick and assisted the own goal that opened the scoring against The Sorcerers.

Eriksen was happy to hear the former Juventus boss insisting that he is part of Inter’s future plans after the Coppa victory:

“For a month now I have been repeating that this is Inter, no one will arrive and no one will leave but you don’t want to believe me

“He is part of the project, I am happy that today he scored that goal, I urged him to shoot because we know what quality he has.

“I hope this goal will help him a bit, he is a decent boy, perhaps too much, and we all love him in the locker room.

“We keep him close, he is part of the project.’’

Unfortunately, it appeared that it might just be more than being part of the project, perhaps taking the right and more fitting part of it.

Despite not being on the touchline following a suspension, the Inter manager fielded a different league side.

Keeping the likes Eriksen and Ivan Perisic after a convincing Coppa Italia performance, all while resting the regulars for the cup semi-final clash against Juventus on Tuesday.

Inter opened the scoring early on at the 7^th minute, with Eriksen contributing to the Nerazzurri for the second consecutive time. A free-kick that passed everyone eventually took a slight deflection to be marked down as an own goal from Improta.

Nevertheless, at the early stages of the contest the Dane seemed restricted by the deep midfielder role, and simply uncomfortable. Which is natural considering his box-to-box identity, it looked like he should have filled Arturo Vidal’ shoes and not Marcelo Brozovic’s, who is the usual laid back central player.

A complication that could prove more challenging in the near future as this is where Conte sees his player: ‘’We are working with Christian from a tactical point of view to find an alternative to Brozovic, which is something we don’t have in the squad.

“He is working on it, footballing wise he is very intelligent and has quality.’’

Though when he felt appropriate to advance, he was nothing but effective and intentional. In a small time span, the midfielder set Roberto Gagliardini through toward the box before the Italian was fouled. A few minutes later, he put a first-time curl destined for Achraf Hakimi’s head at point-blank range from the goal. And at the start of the second half, he approached the box aimed at the goal with a deflected shot hitting the crossbar. Ultimately as the game approached the end, he dribbled a couple of Benevento players and hit the target, right at the goalkeeper sadly for him.

According to SofaScore, he had the best rating right after the goal scorers, keeping a 90% passing accuracy rate,  a shot between the sticks, two key passes, two interceptions and hit the woodwork once.

A popular demand among supporters and pundits is that the midfielder would start, though not in this position, instead with him playing alongside Brozovic and Barella. It is worth noting that the former is the side’s most creative player and has proved crucial.

Former Inter defender and legend Beppe Bergomi is of the same opinion: “In Conte’s head he is not a starter, he is someone who can come in off the bench.

“For me he is not an alternative to Brozovic.

“That position is delicate and while we know Eriksen’s skills with the ball, he lacks dynamism and in this role you need to be very careful when you don’t have the ball.” Bergomi told Sky Sports.

Conte is still determined nevertheless which is why Eriksen is having to, in a sense, settle for this position if he wants to get time on the pitch. Something he showcased decently on Saturday, although a home game against Benevento might not be the best way to test his qualities.

Another way the ex-Ajax man contributes is through set-pieces as he is in charge of all of them, perhaps with just the exception of penalties. Conte said with a smirk ahead of the weekend: “In rugby, there are players who come off the bench for set pieces,”

He continued: “We are hoping Christian can help us in different situations too.

‘’He can be an extra weapon for us, but a player can’t only stay on the pitch for the free kicks.”

Eriksen will be grateful to have stayed on for the whole game, be that as it may, the chances of him having a decent chunk of the 90 in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus on Tuesday are slim.

The bright side remains nonetheless, he is staying at the club and is having a platform to prove his capabilities and with half a season remaining, a title race and two points below the leaders, he has just the time and the opportunity to move up the pecking order.

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