Mauricio Pochettino is in the middle of one of his most difficult spells as Tottenham manager. They have lost three games in a row for the first time since Tim Sherwood was the manager, with defeat at the San Siro on Tuesday the most galling of them all. Pochettino, who has been generally pleasant with the media since he took charge, snapped after Tuesday's game and berated a reporter who deigned to ask a question about the absent Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld.
Fatigue has been mentioned as one of the reasons behind Spurs' poor form, given that their core is comprised of English and Belgian internationals...all of whom spent a month playing the World Cup in Russia.
Pochettino, for his part, has refused to admit his players are tired, and rather than ease his star player back into action as Chelsea have done with Eden Hazard, Harry Kane has been flung right back into the thick of things.
Kane has started every game for Spurs this season, but his goals have dried up: he has hit just two in six games thus far, and while that isn't a bad return for mere mortals, it is below-par for Kane.
In spite of Pochettino's comments, however, it seems that some of his players are indeed weary, and they are getting their message across in the press. A report by Matt Hughes of the Times today claims that the Spurs players are feeling tired, and are growing annoyed at the lack of time off.
The squad flew home directly after Tuesday's game and stayed at the Lodge Hotel at their training base at Enfield, before then training the following morning for the weekend's Premier League tie against Brighton.
While players don't have a problem staying at the hotel, Hughes reports that "it has added to the feeling of some in the dressing room that they are being worked too hard, particularly given that many of them were heavily involved at the World Cup".
All, it seems, is not as rosy as it has been up to now.
