Graham Roberts has hit out at those generating unwelcome distractions, with a Danish playmaker considered to be offering nothing at present
Christian Eriksen “shouldn’t be anywhere near the first-team” at Tottenham, says club legend Graham Roberts, with the Danish playmaker told to either fully commit or move on.
The talented 27-year-old is still caught between those two stools at present as he mulls over his options.
He has entered the final 12 months of his contract at Spurs and has offered no indication that he will be penning fresh terms as he continues to slide towards free agency.
Eriksen admitted over the summer that he was tempted to take on a new challenge after six years in England, amid strong links to Real Madrid, but no deal was done and he has been forced to stay put.
His form is considered to have been impacted by the uncertainty surrounding his future, with little being offered to the collective cause at present, and Roberts believes he needs to be frozen out or offloaded.
The former Tottenham defender, who spent six years in north London between 1980 and 1986, told talkSPORT of an underperforming star of the present: “Christian Eriksen, if he had signed a contract [with Spurs], he would have played [in the 7-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich]. For me he shouldn’t be on the bench – he shouldn’t be anywhere near the first-team.
“Because he wants to leave and has come out and said he wants to leave.
“Then go. If you think it’s better somewhere else, go.”
Eriksen is not the only player running down his deal at Spurs, with Belgian defensive duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld doing likewise.
Roberts added: “If he [Eriksen] wants to play football and get back to where he was, he has to sign a new contract and put all that to one side and get back to being the top player he was. Because in the last six months he has not been that player.
“He has had one or two good games but then been off again. I’ve never seen a player of his ability give the ball away so much in the last three or four months, and that can’t happen to a top quality player.
“It should never have got into this situation; you cannot let players run their contracts down.
“It should have been sorted out two years ago, but I do understand because of the money situation, and that is where we are at the moment.
“It’s not just him, I think there are other players in the team as well; Toby, I’ve loved him and Jan ever since he’s been in the team, but they’ve let their contracts run down and just want to walk away.”
Pressed on who is to blame for an unfortunate situation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which mirrors that of recent struggles endured by arch-rivals Arsenal, Roberts said: “It’s the chairman [Daniel Levy], it’s got to be the chairman. The chairman does all the deals.
“But I suppose with the new stadium last year and with a lot on their minds, maybe they forgot about it.
“But at the end of it, we’ve lost one game, 7-2 at home. Yes, it is destroying, but I’m sure our manager will pick it up. What he has got to do now is pick one team and stick with it, and pick players he thinks are going to be at the club moving forward.”
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