Pochettino admits Eriksen may be mentally tired

Mauricio Pochettino admits Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen may be struggling with mental fatigue.

The Dane starred for his country in their World Cup play-off earlier this month, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory over Republic of Ireland in the second leg.

But he has struggled to hit those heights for Spurs since then, and the Lilywhites’ Premier League form has dipped, with defeats at Arsenal and Leicester sandwiching a 1-1 draw at home against West Bromwich Albion.

Eriksen ran further against Arsenal (13.7km) and sprinted more times (83) than any of his team-mates, and he was also joint top for distance covered against the Baggies at the weekend (12.78km – the same as Dele Alli).

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However, his exertions seemed to affect him at Leicester on Tuesday and he was substituted in the 77^th minute with his side trailing 2-0.

Eriksen still covered 10.34km in that time, but he lacked his usual quality and had just missed a golden opportunity when he was withdrawn, shooting wide from six yards. His replacement Erik Lamela promptly set up Harry Kane for Spurs’ goal.

“A player like Christian Eriksen maybe can be a little bit tired – but mental more than physical,” said Pochettino. “In the last international duty he played two amazing games to try to qualify for the World Cup, and he cannot rest, he cannot stop.

“Maybe he struggles a little bit but his condition is fantastic because after every game the stats are unbelievable from him. But maybe I can agree that there may be some mental tiredness.

“From the beginning of the season he’s playing, playing, playing, with no time to rest. Maybe it’s him and Eric Dier that are playing a lot – maybe Davinson Sanchez too. It’s the same group, the players that travel a lot and were involved in nearly all the games.

“Maybe they can feel a little bit tired about competing, because it’s not just because you run, and the effect on your physique. It’s your mind as well and then when you’re an offensive player you always expend more energy than in other positions because people expect that you will create something.

“We are trying to provide him (Eriksen) and different players more time to rest and recover, with different strategies, and trying to help.

“It’s maybe possible [they are tired]. But other players? I think no. Dele Alli wasn’t involved in the first three Champions League games and we’ve rotated different players or managed their fitness. I think that is not the reason today why the team has struggled in the last few games to get a positive result.”

Despite Eriksen’s efforts, the likelihood is that he will be named in the starting line-up once again at Watford on Saturday, given Spurs’ reliance on his creativity.

By contrast, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp left Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho out of his starting line-up on Wednesday night and still emerged with a 3-0 victory at Stoke – although it was Salah who scored the last two goals as a substitute.

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Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City achieved their 2-1 home win over Southampton without Leroy Sane, and with David Silva only playing for the final 16 minutes.

Asked whether that ability to rotate makes a difference, and whether Spurs’ squad is strong enough, Pochettino, said: “I think you know better than me what happens. That is the clear example.

“We have Saturday now against Watford and then the Champions League, and we need to rest players [next week]. We’re going to play against Apoel, we are first in the table and of course it’s a great opportunity to rest players that need to rest and to help them for the next period to be fresh.

“Remember last season in this period we were out of the Champions League. We couldn’t copy with both competitions in the way we wanted, and today it’s like the opposite.

“In the Champions League we’re so good and in the Premier League, in the last few games, we struggle a little bit – not in the past. It’s only after the international duty that the team hasn’t got good results.”

It has been pointed out this week that, since the first extracts were released from Pochettino’s book ‘Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs’, the Lilywhites have only won four out of 10 matches, while also losing four.

But the Argentinian has laughed off suggestions that there is any correlation, dismissing any idea that his players have been affected by his publication of previously private information and conversations.

“When the book appeared and different quotes appeared, we beat Real Madrid, Liverpool and had unbelievable results,” he said.

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“First of all I want to say thank you to the people who write this [theory] because it’s more publicity for the book. We’re going to help more people because all the money is going to charity. In this period that is coming, Christmas, if we can sell more books it will help more people.

“It’s a risk when you lie. If you tell the truth, why [is it a risk]? It was a very honest book that was involved with the club for a very good thing.

“When you are clear with everyone the problem doesn’t exist. The problem is when you lie, when you lie inside and want to show that you are different.

“But for me, I am here how I am inside, and all that has appeared in this book, the players know better than me. There is nothing to hide.

“We won a lot of games when the book appeared. I’m more than happy if the book is the problem. It’s easy – on the bench or out of the list.

“My relationship with the players is so strong. To make an excuse about the book it wrong. Ok, I understand it’s funny, but for me it’s not because I think it’s a very good documentary, to help many people with information that is never going to cause problems.”

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