Mauricio Pochettino was angry at Belgium manager Roberto Martinez when Martinez recently revealed that Jan Vertonghen’s hamstring injury would keep him out for a longer period of time than Spurs had let on. It will be interesting to see how Poch reacts now that the same exact thing has happened with Christian Eriksen.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says Christian Eriksen will be fit for London derby with West Ham after Denmark manager Age Hareide claimed star had ‘chronic’ problem pic.twitter.com/gj0sR2f3Et
— Lilian Chan (@bestgug) October 18, 2018
Denmark manager Age Hareide told Canal 9 that Eriksen’s abductor injury could be a chronic issue. Here’s the full translated bit of what he had to say:
“Such an injury can be chronic, and it is true that Tottenham also fears that. It is doubtful whether we will lure him to Dublin and make him play. I do not think that Tottenham is particularly interested in that.”
Asked whether Eriksen would be missing for weeks or months, he added: “I do not really know. You should ask our doctor.”
Pochettino has a history of not being entirely truthful about his player’s injuries, and we really just haven’t heard a lot about this issue that Eriksen has been having. Spurs’ 26-year-old star hasn’t played since the 2-1 win over Brighton on September 22nd.
Hareide’s quotes do claim that Spurs know about the severity of the ailment. So while Pochettino may be lying, at least he isn’t uninformed.
It would be nice to hear more about this injury from someone with a medical background, as Hareide suggests, but that won’t happen. If the problem is truly chronic then it could be something that Eriksen is dealing with for the rest of his career. Whatever the diagnosis is, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be seeing Eriksen in action anytime soon.
Spurs held on to a 1-0 victory over Cardiff at the weekend despite the wave of injuries that have affected the club. Still, Tottenham do not have a direct replacement who can come off the bench and fill Eriksen’s shoes. He is one of those players who is nearly impossible to replace and Spurs are clearly not as effective without him.
At least Hareide is basically saying here that Eriksen won’t play for Denmark over this international break. Hopefully the break gives the Dane a chance to rest, and gives the club a chance to properly assess his injury so they can then properly inform the fans just what is actually going on here.
Pochettino may get mad at Hareide, but having to rely on international managers to give the necessary details about injured players is really frustrating.