You aren't naïve enough to think that any player at Spurs wouldn't want to leave to go and play for Real Madrid or Barcelona are you?
No, Im not. Never have been. Completely wrong angle of attack there.
My issue is not, and never has been, a player wanting to move on from the club.
It is, however, a player letting their performance levels completely tank, while willfully avoiding a contract to screw the club out of a fee.
Modric showed how it can and should be done. Eriksen has shamed himself and insulted us.
I personally think its a very damaging thing to the club/morale to let a player do that, fail in his quest to leave, then be rewarded with a pay rise and cushy contract.
Giving Eriksen a deal would be signing up one of the best 5 creative midfield players in the Premier League and do so without having to pay a transfer fee to do so.
It would also be keeping a player we have effectively replaced, adding to an already congested midfield, and showing that its ok to act the clam because you'll get your way anyway.
Theres more to good management/squad management, IMO, than simply collecting players like panini stickers.
If Eriksen has proven that he won't step up and meet his potential then we might as well sell every single player in the squad other than perhaps Harry Kane as there isn't a single player in our squad who has performed as consistently well as Eriksen has over a number of seasons.
Comparing players to players is one thing, comparing them to themselves and their potential is another.
Eriksen, while clearly one of our best players the last 5 years, has never really reached his peak. And has now regularly gone missing for us at key times. When the team is set up so much to suit him, when he fails - we fail. I think thats an issue that has been addressed (or attempted) in signings like Lo Celso and NDombele - more all round skilled midfielders than having a specialist playmaker.
The rest of the squad? Irrelevant really, seeing as this is the Eriksen thread. Even so, there are some that have more cache on their side, some that are performing, and some - like Eriksen - for whom that time has passed and could/should move on.
It's strange that you seem happy for Dier to be given time to find his form, even though he has never been and never will be even half the player that Eriksen is. Of course Dier is never going to have the same decision to make as Eriksen as the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid are never going to even look twice at Eric Dier.
Ah yes, lets have a dig at Dier - there wasnt the opportunity or need for it - but you did it anyway.
Completely different players, completely different jobs, and completely different attitudes. I really dont see the comparison to be honest.
Dier lost form through illness, not ambivalence - theres a major difference for one, and a big reason to offer some patience with him.
While speaking of your pet hates - I notice you didnt take the opportunity to have a pop at Winks too. Is it perhaps because Eriksen (in the first half mostly) did absolutely everything you slate WInks (rather unfairly) for? Never have I seen the ball go backwards so unnecessarily...