Paulo Di Canio believes Christian Eriksen ‘will become a problem’ for Antonio Conte at Inter if he continues his sluggish start to life in Serie A.
The Denmark international joined Conte’s side in January after refusing to sign a new deal with Tottenham, but has so far struggled to make an impact at the San Siro.
Eriksen, 28, has made eight appearances for the club, scoring one goal and claiming one assist with both of those goal contributions in the Europa League.
Since his arrival, the Nerazzurri have lost ground in the title race and the gap to the top of the table increased to nine points on Sunday as a result of a 2-0 loss to league leaders Juventus.
Eriksen was introduced from the bench for the final half-an-hour but again failed to have an impact, and following his cameo appearance West Ham legend
Di Canio has said Conte needs to find a solution to the midfielder’s poor form.
“Eriksen will become a problem for Conte,” Di Canio told Sky Sports Italia.
“He is not like Diego Costa; with whom you can fight if you don’t let him play. He is a guy like Hazard: he is silent, you don’t see him much, he never complains, but it is difficult to have a direct and frank confrontation.
“With Eriksen at Tottenham he had the chance to lose dangerous balls because there were those who ran for him, at Inter they can’t afford that. He doesn’t jump the opponent in one-on-one fights, he doesn’t have speed in his legs.”
Former England manager Fabio Capello also weighed in on the Eriksen debate, saying Conte must get his tactics right to ensure he gets the best out his January signing.
“Italian football is not very fast but Eriksen has never been very fast in his career,” Capello said.
“I think he can do well as a director, like Andrea Pirlo at Juventus and not as a winger. He does not have the speed to be a box-to-box player.
“I think he can be a player like Brozovic and not a player like Vidal. He is not a man who does a lot dribbling”, he added.
