Tottenham Hotspur boss has admitted that Christian Eriksen may be mentally exhausted after his exertions for Denmark and recent poor form for Spurs.
Eriksen has been a key player for Spurs since his £12million arrival from Ajax in 2013, developing into one of the Premier League’s most exciting attacking midfielders.
But the Danish international has been off colour recently as Spurs have suffered an alarming dip in form which has seen them lose pace with the Premier League’s top four.
Spurs have not won in three and now find themselves four points behind their rivals Arsenal in fourth, with Burnley even climbing above them in the table.
Eriksen single-handedly led his country to the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick in the second leg of their play-off against the Republic of Ireland, and his form has not been the same for Spurs since then.
Speaking to the press ahead of Spurs’ Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday, Pochettino admitted that the Dane may be mentally struggling.
Reliable Spurs journalist Ricky Sacks tweeted Pochettino’s comments on Thursday during the press conference:
Mauricio Pochettino believes Christian Eriksen might be feeling a little tired following his international exertions with Denmark: "Mentally more than physically because his condition is fantastic, after every game the stats are unbelievable." #COYS#THFC pic.twitter.com/15ZgwcxmRa
— Ricky Sacks ? (@RickySacks) November 30, 2017
OPINION
There has never been a question about Eriksen’s physical fitness. The Dane is one of Spurs’ hardest working players and always seems to have legs at the end of games. It wouldn’t be surprising if Pochettino was right about his mental state though. The games against Ireland were extremely high pressure situations for Eriksen. He is considered his country’s best player and the weight of expectation on his shoulders would have been huge. While he did deliver, and deliver with considerable aplomb, those exertions would have taken it out of him. Pochettino seems afraid of dropping Eriksen however, despite his ineffectual performances recently. Spurs need Eriksen to be firing on all cylinders or he tends to drift out of games, and maybe he needs a rest against Watford to fully reset his batteries.