Tottenham 2-2 draw away at Olympiacos in their Champions League opener certainly wasn’t the worst result in the world, particularly given Olympiacos’ impressive home record.
However, it was not the result but the lacklustre performance that left Spurs fans particularly disappointed. The team looked like they had turned a corner with their impressive display against Crystal Palace last weekend but their showing in Greece on Wednesday evening was extremely agricultural.
While there were disappointing individual displays all over the pitch for Spurs, the performance of Christian Eriksen, in particular, has come under a lot of scrutiny after the game.
We reported the fact that some Spurs fans on social media were angered by the Dane’s display in midweek, while former Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas also had some extremely harsh words regarding the 27-year-old while he was doing commentary work on the game for BT Sport (as relayed by the Express).
Former Leeds United and Coventry City striker Noel Whelan has now become the latest person to launch a scathing attack on the Dane. The 44-year-old insisted that Eriksen didn’t even look like he was trying at times on Wednesday.
Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan, “Something’s not quite right with Christian Eriksen. Is it the contract situation? It seems inevitable he will leave and maybe his head’s not in the right place.
“He’s a brilliant player, no doubt about that, but he’s looked off the pace, lazy, even. He’s always quite economical with his movement, but it’s looked like he wasn’t trying at times.
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“Pochettino will be worried, as there are few players who can do what Eriksen does, and certainly he’s irreplaceable at Tottenham.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While Eriksen certainly had a shocker, I disagree with the assessment that he wasn’t even trying against Olympiacos. The 27-year-old had one of those games where nothing he tried came off for him. Perhaps, it was a mental issue given the fact that he wanted to leave the club this summer. However, if he would have looked disinterested or unmotivated in training, Pochettino wouldn’t continue to pick him.
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