Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed the international break could have a detrimental affect on his players as Spurs enter a vital stage of the season.
The Lilywhites take on West Brom on Saturday in the Premier League, and then face a trip to Germany for their Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen. They then take on Bournemouth before another midweek game, an EFL Cup match at Liverpool.
Spurs will have also played Leicester, Arsenal and Chelsea by the end of November, and Pochettino,speaking to the Daily Mail,admitted the international break came at a bad time for his players, having just beaten Premier League favourites Manchester City.
"The problem is that we have 16 or 17 players going away in two weeks and to put it all together now is a very complicated job," the former Espanyol and Southampton coach explained.
"OK, if you play one game every week, if we play West Brom and then after seven days we play against Bournemouth, it is not a big issue. The problem is how you manage [playing in] Germany, Bournemouth, Liverpool. It is very difficult.
Pochettino has also claimed Saturday's trip to the Hawthorns will be even harder than normal, as organising his team in such a short period of timewill be a tricky proposition.
"For the players we had here or two weeks and it was easy because they were under control and followed our habit," Pochettino continued.
"You always need a few days to settle and put it all together and for that Saturday will be a very tough game. It is a very important game and it is not easy to take the decision because it is not only that we must win but we must also be ready to compete in every game."