Pochettino on key man’s battle with fitness

Tottenham Hotspur had a whopping nine players in the World Cup semi finals in the summer, meaning they didn’t get much of a break before the new season began.

What’s more than this, they also had hundreds of extra minutes in their weary legs compared to a number of opposition teams.

Some players came back from the competition and adapted well but others have struggled.

Harry Kane looked tired and sluggish at the start of the campaign, Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele, and Jan Vertonghen have struggled with injury, and Trippier hasn’t looked himself. Even captain Hugo Lloris has struggled on and off the pitch.

One man who has been feeling the grind recently is Christian Eriksen, as the Great Dane has struggled with his personal fitness.

Tottenham have been putting him on a special fitness regime, and he only played for 45 minutes on Monday for Denmark.

The Evening Standard report Poch had this to say: “The players that were involved in the World Cup suffered some problems, so always we try to look after them and provide the best tools to perform. Christian, for different reasons, struggled a little bit in the last month. That’s why we look after him.

“I think he’s better now after the international break… I think to look after him before going to the national team was the best decision because he started in the last 10 days in two games, and to play against Crystal Palace for 90 minutes and then start in the last two games with the national team would be too much for him.

“But look, it’s our player and we need to look after our player, to take the best decisions for them.”

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