Is Spurs’ reliance on Alli, Eriksen and Kane making them burn out?

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Between them Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane have made more than 300 appearances for Tottenham since the start of the 2015/16 season.

A dejected Christian Eriksen and Fernando Llorente of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match against Leicester City.

The 2-1 Premier League defeat to Leicester City was Christian Eriksen’s 25th appearance of the season in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur and Denmark.

For Harry Kane it was his 22nd and for Dele Alli his 20th. Despite Kane scoring a late consolation goal all three looked off the pace at the King Power Stadium.

Harry Kane celebrates scoring Tottenham Hotspur’s goal during the Premier League match against Leicester City.

After 14 matches Spurs have already lost as many times in the league (4) as they did in the entirety of the 2016/17 season, when they finished second in the English top flight.

A proportion of the blame for that has been put on the North Londoners playing home games at Wembley Stadium as the new White Hart Lane is built, but is their overreliance on a core attacking trio perhaps more of a problem?

Since the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign – when Alli joined Tottenham permanently having spent the past six months on loan at MK Dons after completing the switch – the midfielder, Eriksen and Kane have played a combined 323 games in all competitions, not including international duty, with each having more than a century of appearances during that time.

Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur and Harry Maguire of Leicester City during the Premier League match at The King Power Stadium.

Over the same period Alli has missed nine league fixtures, Kane seven and Eriksen just five. The main source of goals under Mauricio Pochettino are having to work like clockwork and adding midweek Champions League exertion on top of that was sure to take its toll at some point.

The issue is there is little respite for them because there is little support. Heung-min Son is a one-man understudy, filling all three of their roles admirably when called upon. Yet last term Vincent Janssen couldn’t take any of the burden of scoring off Kane and this time around it looks to be a similar story with Fernando Llorente.

It is why Erik Lamela’s return from a year on the sidelines with injury could be so timely, because expecting so much from three attacking players in every game (and let’s not forget that Alli is still only 21) is simply unfair and unrealistic.