Tottenham are under pressure when they travel to Everton on Sunday with two of their big name players Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli both facing intense scrutiny following performances this season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were hoping for big things after reaching the Champions League final and finally spending some money in the transfer market this summer, but they’ve struggled to get going this term.
Defeat at leaders Liverpool leaves them with just three wins from ten games and languishing in mid-table, with more questions than answers so far about both the make-up and confidence of the team.
Much of the focus has been on the underperforming Eriksen and Alli – with the fact that Danish playmaker Eriksen is out of contract next summer cited as the main reason for his struggles.
Whether Eriksen is just struggling for form or is his mind elsewhere was a major talking point in our Premier League Weekly podcast, with our football team giving their thoughts on his situation.
Tom Carnduff
“When they were handing out these mega deals to everyone else, why didn’t they give one to Eriksen?
“Everything that’s going on externally is obviously affecting him on the pitch, he’s usually a very creative player, a top Premier League player, but again, at Anfield, you can’t really pinpoint anything good that he did during the game.
“His passing seemed off, I know it wasn’t really the game for him with how Liverpool played, but he didn’t really offer much.”
George Pitts
“Eriksen’s passing success was only 61 percent!
“Surely when they were offering these contracts out they were sounding out Eriksen’s people to see what he wanted. They must have got signs that he wouldn’t be signing another contract at the club and it does kind of look like he’s on the beach now, it does look like he knows that his days there are numbered.
“It’s funny though, when he’s not playing, Spurs miss him, but when he is playing, he’s a passenger.”
So is Eriksen on the move in January?
Paul Higham
“Someone needs to tell him that if he wants to go somewhere good he really needs to start playing well, maybe he’ll produce a dynamite spell in December when he’s playing in the shop window!
“I thought clubs would be queuing up to sign him in the summer but maybe Daniel Levy was asking too much for a player with a year left on his contract, and Eriksen himself only wanted to go to a team in the Champions League.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he already knows a club will be signing him in January. But if he does sign for someone else in January, is he going to put himself out for Spurs and risk getting injured for his new team he’s joining in the summer?”
George Pitts
“Aaron Ramsey still produced good performances for Arsenal after signing for Juventus. And Juventus may be a team interested in Eriksen as well, they always seem to sign good free transfers in January!
“It may just be, though, that Eriksen is struggling for form and confidence. It’s hard to just suddenly start playing well after having a bad spell."
Dele Alli struggling for form
Dele Alli is another player who, rightly or wrongly, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, with pundits coming down hard on him, most recently Roy Keane, so where has it gone wrong for him?
Tom Carnduff
“Dele Alli was slated by the Sky Sports pundits, but I can’t remember the last thing that he did that was any good? To be very blunt he’s not done much recently has he?
“It’s just consistency for Alli, he played alright against Watford and scored the goal, but it’s just not happening week in, week out and he seems to have plenty of games where he’s just anonymous.”
Paul Higham
“I don’t know if Spurs play to his strengths anymore. I don’t see him as a player to sit behind the play and put balls through, he’s more of a player in the Frank Lampard mould who arrives late running in behind Harry Kane and gets goals.
“Son Heung-min, who’s a fantastic player, seems to be operating more in the space that Alli would like to be at the moment so I think it’s hard for Alli to get into positions to score.
“He’s also had some injuries and you never know how long it will take young players to get over niggling injuries.”
George Pitts
“When he first came to Spurs from MK Dons and he had that scoring run, it was from running on and linking up with Harry Kane, maybe he just needs a run in the side. But Spurs aren’t playing well as a team and that won’t help him at all.
“He’s still young, even though it seems like he’s been around for a while now, and I just think the criticism of him is a bit harsh. When the team’s not playing well around him, that will only hinder his performances individually.
“As a unit, Spurs just aren’t clicking together, their full-backs were attacking threats last season but they’re out of form and they’re all over the place tactically.
“But they play at Everton next, and Tottenham do need a good result in this game, Everton are far too inconsistent even though they do have a good performance in them, Spurs should be able to get the win.”
