Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that the form of striker Harry Kane and midfielder Ryan Mason has been hurt by receiving their first senior England international call-ups in March, reports the Daily Mail.
A fringe player at Tottenham in the early months of the season, Kane has emerged as one of their most valuable players and is among those shortlisted for PFA Footballer of the Year. That recognition comes after scoring 29 goals for the North London club this season in all competitions, and he has also captained the side in recent weeks.
Along with Mason, he was called up by England boss Roy Hodgson in March for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and the friendly away in Italy. It took just seconds after coming off the bench to cap his debut with a goal to seal a 4-0 win over the Baltic state, while he started in Turin.
Mason made his debut as a substitute as the Juventus Stadium, and since the international break Tottenham have failed to score in two Premier League games, drawing at Burnley and losing at home to Aston Villa.
Pochettino believes the duo have suffered a loss of form following their time away with the national team. He said: ��When players get their first call-up, they try to show they are Chaussure Nike KD good enough and try to impress the national manager, and because they are over-motivated they expend a lot of energy.
��When you come back to the team, the consequence is that for two or three weeks you are a little bit down. It is normal and this happened at Southampton too.
��I remember that we were third in the table and we went to play against Arsenal in November. If we won, with three points we��d have been first in the table. The performance wasn��t good. Why? Because we��d spent a lot of energy and it was difficult to keep our focus on the normal life.��
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