One of the most creative minds in the Barclays Premier League is deep in thought about his own shortcomings.

Not good enough at dribbling, he says. Too often the cause of defeat, he concludes.

It is Christian Eriksen, but then it is not Christian Eriksen.

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Christian Eriksen admits he used to buy himself on Football Manager and FIFA when he was younger

Eriksen (centre), pictured playing FIFA with Spurs team-mates, does not think much of his virtual player

In computer games my character isn’t good enough

It is the Eriksen of real life talking about the Eriksen that exists in computer games such as Football Manager and FIFA. As it happens, the child prodigy-turned-leading man knows an awful lot about the other guy and he has not always liked what he has seen.

'When I was in my teens at Ajax and started appearing in these games, I would always buy Football Manager and sign myself pretty quick,' he says. 'I would make myself No 10 and captain straight away.

'I would sign myself for Barcelona, do a season there, and then I went to Real Madrid and bought me. Didn't matter what team I was, I'd buy me. I loved that game — I used to play as Leeds or Roma a lot as a kid.

'But when I was made part of the game, I was disappointed with myself a few times. I'd never fine myself but my character was never quite good enough in the game.

'It was the same with the FIFA games — it was annoying because I wasn't that good. Other players were better. I always ended up losing because I would get the ball to me and not pass to the others. I couldn't understand why I was losing, but I can't dribble on the FIFA game.'

Eriksen is smirking. There aren't many players in the real world who can do what he does. There are even fewer who can match his form for picking locks this season. Harry Kane is the wrecking ball in the Tottenham team who play at West Brom on Saturday afternoon, but it is Eriksen who, more often than not, puts him in a position to swing.

Eriksen meets students at the Disability Centre of Excellence, Barnet & Southgate College on Tuesday

Spurs playmaker Eriksen is rated 84 overall on FIFA 15, with his main attributes passing, pace and dribbling

Eriksen says he would make himself No 10 and captain straight away when playing on Football Manager

His statistics tell a story. Since his Premier League debut in August 2013, the 23-year-old Dane is ranked in the top four for chances created with 186 and is No 1 for goals scored from free-kicks, with six. There have been 13 other league strikes in that time and 15 assists.

'Only numbers,' Eriksen says. With this playmaker, a disciple of Dennis Bergkamp and a student of David Silva's subtleties, football has always been about more. 'It is about thinking,' he says. And to understand what he means is to appreciate where he has been, from shouting matches with his father to the closed doors at Chelsea and the three touches in 90 minutes in his failed trial at Barcelona.

It is about understanding what he learnt under Bergkamp.

There are not many playmakers in better form than Eriksen (right, pictured against Chelsea) this season

Eriksen sat down with Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai to speak about Tottenham and his career to date

'I started very young,' Eriksen says. 'I was about two years old and nine or 10 months. My neighbour was five or six and in a team, Middelfart G&BK, so I joined with him.

'Football was always big in my family. I have a little sister who plays to a high level. My mum worked in a grocery shop and played football and my dad worked with cars, a sales director, and he played to almost a professional level. His dad played as well.

'From the start, all I did was play football. I briefly played badminton and won a tournament when I was 12, but really it was always football. My dad was my coach until I was 13, when I joined Odense, so it was always at home, too. There were some hard and tough days. He knew how to push my buttons to make me mad.

'He could make me angry or even sad. I knew myself if I had a bad game but he would get in the car and say, "Why would you do that?" or, "You were that". He kept going and going. I would not say a word or, OK, maybe I would. Then the next day it was all fine. He always got me thinking.'

Eriksen (second left) takes part in a MultiSport session with students at the Disability Centre of Excellence

When Eriksen was a child, his father would make him mad when discussing mistakes he made in games

Sportsmail's graphic details how Eriksen takes free-kicks; he thinks David Beckham was one of the best

David Silva is so good he never gives the ball away

It was at the age of 14, while with Danish club Odense, that a dilemma presented itself. His response to the situation was fascinating.

'Me and Rasmus Falk, my team-mate from kids football and also Odense, went to Chelsea on trial,' Eriksen says. 'I also went back the next year and had to think what I wanted.

'I played three games at Under 18s — versus Millwall, West Ham and some other team. We ate together with first-team players and you see Jose Mourinho and Didier Drogba walking around.

'But the whole thing was really different to Denmark where everyone goes in and everyone goes out, no problem. Relaxed. Chelsea, boom, the door closes behind you and stays closed. It would be too big a step for me as a person back then.'

Chelsea offered a third trial but Eriksen declined, holding out for a club with a clearer pathway to the first team, before spending three days at AC Milan and five at Barcelona. 'At Barca, we played a match against the Catalonia national team when I was there,' he says. 'I touched the ball three times in 90 minutes. Literally.

At Ajax, Eriksen learned a lot from coach Dennis Bergkamp, who he says never lost the ball in training

Eriksen describes the connection between Bergkamp (pictured) and Wim Jonk in training sessions at Ajax

'I was running around, all quiet, saying, "Here, play to me", but no. Then to the other side, "Here, play me". No? OK, to the other side, "Here, play me". No. I did that for 90 minutes.

'I don't know what happened. Training was good, but in this game I was thinking, "I am not going to get the ball at all". Maybe it's because all the guys were speaking Spanish. I learnt to be more aggressive in getting possession.'

He would learn about that, and so much more, starting later in the year. Ajax, his preferred team from the outset, signed him aged 16 in October 2008. What he gathered under Bergkamp, a hero of Arsenal who was working on the Ajax staff, has helped ensure one of the most hyped juniors in Europe is now one of the most-wanted seniors.

'When I came there at Under 17s I'm suddenly working with Dennis Bergkamp,' Eriksen says. 'I remember the striker, Tom Boere and me, a No 9 and a No 10, working with Wim Jonk (a former Holland international) and Bergkamp, trying to do stuff together.

'We would stay out there, in these four-man sessions, and Tom and me would try to connect like they did. It was crazy how they were, like one big brain between two players. If one goes right, the other goes right, correct distances, correct decisions.

The Danish playmaker (right) thinks Tottenham have progressed well in the last year and are better now

Eriksen went on trial at Barcelona when he was younger, but struggled and 'touched the ball three times'

PERFECT TEN Christian Eriksen has scored 10 goals from outside the penalty area in the Premier League since his Spurs debut in September 2013 — more than any other player. Yaya Toure is second with nine Advertisement

'Bergkamp, he knows the feeling of the ball — he has that sense for a hard ball, a soft ball. When he joined in the possession games in the first team, I don't think he ever lost the ball. It was quite annoying sometimes.

'He is such an interesting guy as well. He is quite quiet but you know how much he is respected because even though he doesn't talk much in meetings, if he does, everyone listens and everyone learns.'

In four complete seasons, Eriksen won the Dutch title three times, the KNVB Cup once and was named the Dutch talent of the year in 2011. Tottenham, in anticipation of the £86million Gareth Bale gold rush, signed him in 2013.

Today, sitting at a function as part of Tottenham's support for UK Disability History Month and Kick It Out, Eriksen is weighing up how far he and the club have come. Spurs drew 0-0 with Chelsea at the weekend and the subdued mood around the club was significant.

Eriksen is full of praise for players like Mesut Ozil and David Silva, who is the 'best playmaker' in the league

Eriksen (right) celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring against Swansea in the Barclays Premier League

'Someone on Twitter was saying that it was a disappointing result,' he says. 'The feeling around the place has changed a lot even in the years I have been here. When we played the big teams we could go one down and then easily it could become 5-0. Some of the games against the bigger teams were really bad, you're thinking, "Oh no", but look now.'

As an individual, arguably only Mesut Ozil is a playmaker in better form. 'I used to watch him when I was at Ajax and he was at Real Madrid,' Eriksen says. 'It is a joke how he good he is. David Silva as well — he is probably the best playmaker in the Premier League.

'You watch Silva and he almost never gives the ball away. He is always looking, thinking, making the right calls.'

Eriksen is shaking his head. 'So good,' he says. 'Always getting the decisions right.'

The same could probably be said of Eriksen himself, even if he wouldn't say it about the computer version.