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Christian Eriksen has been included in two separate Teams of the Decade, as selected journalists of The Times.

Both Oliver Kay and James Gheerbrant, journalists of excellent renown, have selected the Denmark international: Kay in a 4-4-2 formation alongside Yaya Toure and Gheerbrant in a 4-3-3 alongside both David Silva and N’Golo Kante.

Now, opinions are opinions and that’s fine; everyone has one and one of the great things in football is debating with other supporters.

But selecting Eriksen in a Team of the Decade, from 2009 to 2019, is genuinely ridiculous.

There are a number of possibilities that Kay and Gheerbrant could have explored: Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, the jewel in perhaps the best team ever seen in the Premier League, Steven Gerrard, who almost dragged a Liverpool team to the title under Brendan Rodgers, Frank Lampard, still in his pomp in the 2010s, or Cesc Fabregas, a star at both Chelsea and Arsenal.

But, no, they selected Eriksen.

Let’s examine this a bit. Now, clearly, he is an elite midfielder. He has the ability to pick the lock for Spurs from midfield and he has youth on his side but has he ever once been the best central midfielder in the Premier League? The answer to that question simply has to be no.

Eriksen has not won a trophy during his time at Spurs; he could win the Champions League on June 1 but that would be the sole reward for a six-year spell at Spurs.

He has never once had the most assists in the Premier League; in his time at the club, Gerrard, Fabregas, Mesut Ozil, De Bruyne (twice) and Eden Hazard all topped the assist charts. Eriksen came second in both 2016/17 and 2015/16 but is that a legacy?

He has never even been close to winning the Golden Boot. He has never really been close to winning the Premier League, either, despite Spurs running both Leicester City and Chelsea close.

It begs the question as to the criterion laid out by The Times for their selections but neither Kay nor Gheerbrant decide to explain the selection in the actual article.

Perhaps he is just their favourite player, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But to include him in a Team of the Decade is ridiculous; perhaps, as is more likely, they just couldn’t think of anyone else.