Curious decisions from Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho starting to add up

Jose Mourinho yesterday afternoon confirmed that Christian Eriksen is set to start against Norwich later this evening, an entirely perplexing decision. 

There is no escaping the fact that Eriksen enjoys his best performances at home against inferior sides. He’s afforded more space and time to pick out incisive passes that, with one touch of the football, split defenders like a fly zipping through a closing window.

And there is nothing more crucial than securing all three points under the bright Tottenham Hotspur Stadium lights this evening. However, knowing intricately about Christian Eriksen’s impending move to Inter Milan makes this particular decision as confusing as it is shortsighted. If Eriksen is moving on, the club needs to do the same.

Surely we have enough creativity in midfield, without having to select a dead man walking, to pick apart a mediocre defence at home. Why provide Christian with a start knowing he could be on the next flight departing the capital, bound for his new Italian home?

Unless, of course, Mourinho knows something we don’t about the current situation. The latest reports state that Inter have increased marginally their offer to secure the long-awaited signing of the Dane, who remains in limbo. 

Human nature suggests Eriksen’s mind is elsewhere. I find it impossible to conceive that his concentration is undivided, wholly on tonight’s crucial battle with everything else going on. Supporters have lost their trust in him and even Eriksen has admitted to being disappointed with Tottenham’s fan base, making Mourinho’s decision to start him even more curious.

If Mourinho thinks he needs Eriksen in the lineup to beat Norwich, that in of itself is quite a damning evaluation of the players whose commitment to Tottenham is assured.

I hope Mourinho merely meant Eriksen will be in the squad but not starting. And if he does start, it better work out exactly how the gaffer envisions it to.

For I fear the backlash, if Eriksen puts in another pedestrian, apathetic performance, will be all-encompassing, emphatic and absolutely justified.