The start of the season has brought fresh questions and concerns surrounding Tottenham Hotspurs. The overall criticism directed towards the club and the manager Mauricio Pochettino has been somewhat over the top, with the club currently in 5th place with 12 points from the opening 18 points available.
Media and supporters alike have been focusing much of their attention towards the form of Tottenham’s leading man Harry Kane, but what could be more alarming for manager and fans alike is the form of Christian Eriksen.
The influential play-maker has started the campaign extremely below-par, with his performance in the San Siro during the teams opening Champions League defeat at the hands of Inter Milan, perhaps the performance is a turning point for Eriksen. The previous season saw Eriksen and Harry Kane stealing much of the positive headlines when discussing Tottenham, but Eriksen has avoided the heavy criticism that perhaps Kane has received.
Eriksen is a world-class player, and a player that any team in Europe would accommodate into their starting eleven and Tottenham are struggling to hit their best form without the Danish play-maker playing to his very best.
Harry Kane has suffered without his industry playing in behind the England captain, and the below-par Dele Alli has not been at his best in the early season which can also be a factor contributed towards Eriksen and his ability to get the best out of players around him.
The strength of depth of this Tottenham squad has been questioned for the last number of seasons, and rightfully so, but surely Eriksen is one of the players that Pochettino must consider taking out of this team for a game or two for the long-term gain of his talent, especially considering the 26-year-old has played every minute of Tottenham’s games thus far.
Are the Tottenham players tired after the World Cup? This is a question that has been raised very often since the return to domestic football for these players the irony is then Pochettino being criticized regularly for rotating the squad, and perhaps trying to give some of the players the rest that some believe the players need.
Eriksen is undoubtedly one of the players who currently looks to be suffering, yet to score in the Premier League. However, he does have two assists to his name. The inclusion of the pacy Lucas Moura looks to have changed the way the team plays in the way of finding Moura to get in behind the opposition defence, whereas in previous years much of the play in the final third for the team is to find Eriksen and use his creativity to break teams down.
Six games into the Premier League is hard to measure where clubs are at in terms of objectives and goals, but if Tottenham can get these players and especially Christian Eriksen back to hitting their best individual and team form then they will comfortably finish within the top four of the Premier League this season and even perhaps mount a serious attack at the Premier League title.