Denmark Coach Kasper Hjulmand: “Inter’s Eriksen Performs Best When Given Key Role In Nerazzurri’s Play”

Antonio Conte will get the best out of Christian Eriksen if he builds his Inter side around the midfielder, according to Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand.

Eriksen is enjoying an unexpected second wind at Inter after looking set to leave the club during the January transfer window.

The 29-year-old impressed as a ‘mezzala’ during the wins over Lazio and AC Milan and has revitalised the Nerazzurri’s left wing along with Ivan Perisic.

“Eriksen is a fantastic player who can use his left and right foot in the same way,” Hjulmand told Danish publication Bold.dk today.

“I think that the more Christian is involved in his team’s play, the better.

“He’s one of the players in Italy and in Europe who runs the most.”

Eriksen has mainly played as a ‘mezzala’ in recent matches but there has been some matches where he has been used as a deep-lying playmaker.

Hjulmand went on to downplay the possibility of him playing in such a role in the national team, at least not initially.

“I could see that happening, but not right now,” he admitted.

“I still think that Christian has a lot of attacking qualities, and we are of course working to bring Christian’s best qualities to the team.

“Conte has tried to use Eriksen how he played Andrea Pirlo at Juventus.

“He is right in front of the backline and it is a little different.

“If you are right in front of the backline, you must have more defensive duties.

“You have to run past and defend on the side of the midfielders once in a while, and you have to play midfielder when the midfielders are out on the sides.

“The way that Conte has done it with Christian, as he did with Pirlo, is that he has three defenders behind him, so he can just stay in the middle.

“It could well be that Christian can end up there at some point.”

Hjulmand also believes the 29-year-old expresses himself best when he is allowed freedom to move about.

“I can see that at some point he becomes a little more tenacious and can express himself more with passes than with the ground he covers,” Hjulmand added.

“I could see him end up playing as a number six at some point, but right now and also in the recent matches for Inter he has been used as a player who is also involved in the attacks.

“I think he should have that freedom right now, but maybe in the longer term he could easily become a focal point in the middle of the pitch.”

Eriksen has made 20 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring once during Inter’s Coppa Italia quarter-final victory over AC Milan last month.