Scotland v Denmark: Changes will help Christian Eriksen - Laudrup

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Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen trains at IbroxImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Christian Eriksen was in high spirits as the Danes trained at Ibrox

International friendly: Scotland v Denmark

Date: Tuesday 29, March Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Kick-off: 20:00 BST

Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland 810MW/DAB/online; updates on BBC Sport website

Brian Laudrup thinks new Denmark coach Age Hareide's change in tactics could help Christian Eriksen realise his full potential at international level.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eriksen impressed the former Rangers and Denmark winger against Iceland.

"He has certainly not hit the heights for the Danish team," said Laudrup.

"But he certainly showed against Iceland he was back to his best, playing one of his best games for the Danish national team in years."

Ahead of Tuesday's friendly against Scotland at Hampden, Eriksen has himself stated that the Danes are still adapting to the style of play adopted by Hareide, who took over from Morten Olsen in December.

"The one thing you have to remember about Christian Erikson is that he is only 24," Laudrup told BBC Scotland.

"He is still a very young player, but he's played 59 times for Denmark already, which is incredible.

Media caption,

Denmark wary of Scots at Hampden

"He is certainly showing week in, week out in England with Tottenham how good a player he can be.

"I think with this new system, with the way Mr Hareide sets out his team up, he would like to give Christian Eriksen as much freedom as possible."

Former Malmo boss Hareide adopted a 3-5-2 formation for Thursday's friendly win over Iceland, pushing two strikers up front in an attempt to tackle a poor scoring record.

"You will see other players playing in midfield trying to do all the hard work, all the dirty work and let Christian Eriksen do what he is best at," said Laudrup.

"In the final third of the pitch, he is very good, great skill, great vision, great shooting ability as well."

Laudrup claims that many in his country had wanted his brother, Michael, the former Swansea City manager who left Qatar outfit Lekhwiya in June, to take charge of the national team.

"It is no secret that most football fans in this country would have loved to see my brother take over, but he chose otherwise," he said.

"What you can say about Mr Hareide is that he comes with a very good CV, at least in Scandinavia, having won the titles in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Nicolai Joergensen scored both Denmark goals in Thursday's win over Iceland

"So he knows the Scandinavian players and comes across as a very open-minded guy and there is a nice atmosphere around the national team.

"It looks like he's had a very good start and the players are very fond of his methods and ideas and as a human being as well."

Like Scotland, Denmark had missed out on qualification for the Euro 2016 finals.

"For the last 16 years, we've had Morten Olsen as the manager and have had some successful periods," added Laudrup.

"But, in the last two or three years, I think people have become fed up with the way we played - not creating enough and especially not qualifying for the World Cup in 2014 and obviously the European Championships in France this June.

"During the 16 years under Morten Olsen, we changed from being more or less a team that would play very quickly on the break to a more possession-based type of football.

"But, in the last two or three years, we didn't create enough and the fans were fed up watching all these passes and tiki-taka, but it didn't really create chances or score enough goals."