I have to admit that I have enjoyed watching the Mesut Ozil saga over at Arsenal, many a laugh at their expense I have enjoyed, however, I suspect that it will now be Tottenham that is being laughed at and the reason is simple, Dele Alli.
The parallels between those two players are very similar, apart from the salary, though Alli is not exactly being paid peanuts to sit around twiddling his thumbs.
Two players that have or had undoubted talent that could swing a game with the most subtle of touches, both visionaries and both box office among many other attributes.
But the similarities are not all positives, they both share many negatives.
Not prepared to put the hard work in, ego’s out of control, undermining the club at every opportunity via their social media accounts, both in the press for their off-field antics as much as on it, not accepting that it is they that are the problem and so on.
But it is not all doom and gloom, there is still room for Alli to turn things around if he decides that is what he wants to do, unlike Ozil who was all about the money and publicity.
A split is emerging at Tottenham now, just as it did with Ozil at Arsenal. You have pundits and former managers jumping in with Alli should be selected and some of the fans, as is evidenced on here in certain comments, are calling for the same.
I am certainly not in that camp, this is all on Alli and his attitude, he clearly has the talent and is still young and it should not be down to just Mourinho to sort this out, Alli must play his part.
Tanguy Ndombele has proven that you can change Mourinho’s opinion and there is no reason why Alli cannot.
Alli is now the Tottenham Ozil, splitting the fans and using social media to further his agenda, the club does not need that and neither does Mourinho.
Alli has the next six months to show us all that he can and should be a first-team regular if he does not, I doubt even Daniel Levy will want to keep beyond the summer.
I honestly bear no ill will towards Dele. I would be happy if he made it here. But I refuse to accept the theory that JM is not picking him out of some childish spite.
Too many people have jumped on the media bandwagon. I prefer the judgment of Jose, who sees everyone in training day in, day out, to the judgment of a Merson, Redknapp, or anyone of the SkySports pundit pool.
It’s astonishing, isn’t it, you churn out hundreds of words on a subject and when you suggest that someone read the blogs, instead of you having to repeat the same answers endlessly, and the guy replies by telling you to get writing.
Thanks for playing Dave, and good luck in your future endeavours
Compared to you, I’m divine light
Unless you played football at any standard, or even professionally, ultimately you are the same as all of us a fan.
Sure you write some articles and when i can be bothered i might reply.
You have a view which you are entitled to and i “refuse to absorb any of the facts” what facts?
The team are playing rubbish football and under achieving, the manager is Mourinho, Dele isnt in the team/squad. So this current rubbish has zero to do with Dele.
My suggestion about giving him a go what’s the worst that can happen is shouted down. Which again is opinion.
There are lots of professional footballers saying give him a chance, clearly they are idiots as well. But then again, they are the ones that actually played the game and understand it better than most of us.
But you happen to write some articles on a blog with 25 people following and you are the gospel on Spurs.
Sorry you are the Oracle and your opinion is the only opinion
The current squad isn’t working, and you REFUSE to absorb any of the facts that have been presented repeatedly to you.
I can only suggest you read any of the recent blogs I’ve written at length on the situation. It’s not as if my view is mysterious, or I have failed to substantiate it.
So you can go round in circles, but I’ve covered everything.
There’s a Podcast coming out late tonight in which I really hammer it home. If you listen to that and still have questions – I’m at a loss to know what to say!
Dele is just a name on a list to me.
He’s had no fewer chances than anyone else.
There’s no agenda. He’s just a lightweight, like Lamela. Or Gedson.
You both don’t like Dele, Mourinho doesn’t rate him. Fine.
We have a squad
The team are playing badly, not scoring, not creating and not winning.
You have a midfield player who has a vastly superiour scoring rate than many players in the team.
I don’t get the fact that he doesn’t give him a chance, if he does nothing then fine, JM is vindicated. If he does something then JM wins as well, oooh look, JM has sprinkled his magic and Dele is playing really well.
Personally Dele hasn’t performed well for ages, but nor have the team. Dele isn’t the only one that’s for sure.
I don’t not at all.
We are struggling to create, we are struggling to score, the team are playing badly. The team are not winning games.
So the current formula is not working.
We have an attacking player who has a far superior goal scoring average than Moura, Burgervan, Lamela and a number of others.
We aren’t scoring goals, we are not creating chances, we’re are playing poorly.
People without cogent arguments tend to pull strokes like that
So you want to bring out Dele Alli and negate having JM here at all.
Maybe make DA player manager?
Do you remember the last 9 games? which players have set the world alight?
Brighton? Surely everyone that played in that game deserves to keep their place as they were all wonderful
I didn’t say he did
But he is an attacking player that isn’t playing
The other guys have been given a chance and aren’t producing, sobthe worst case is give him a chance, he if doesn’t do anything then he is achieving exactly the same as the others.
If by a miracle he takes his chance and scores a goal, sets up a chance or play well, then happy days.
At present the team are playing poorly, something needs to change.
The idea that putting Dele in the team will suddenly bring goals is erroneous. He got some chances in the EL and never really set the world alight – or do you not remember those games?
He does not guarantee goals and assists anymore – how many did he score in the EL against opposition far inferior to PL teams? 1 against Haifa (7:2) and 1 against LASK (3:3), plus 1 assist in a 4:0 win over Ludogorets. Add to that 1 assist against Marine, and that’s it.
Jose picks between someone who works hard and doesn’t score, and someone who neither works hard nor scores – frankly, the decision is not a tough one.
The baby squad. (Filbert st lot) nutty
I’m glad he’s gone for young Alfie whitemans sake.
Putting a shift in and being consistently crap?
Or not working as hard as everyone else but a moment of magic and a goal scored or a goal created.
The logic doesn’t seem to tally, at the moment we have a team of players running around and working hard, but not scoring and losing?
I didn’t see much running and working hard at Brighton, but then again the players were sad.
The point being, the team aren’t playing very well, they arent creating chances and finding it difficult to score goals.
We may have a raft of attacking players but none are really effective at the moment.
Dele has a point to prove, give him a rocket up his Ar$e, tell him you have a chance to prove me wrong, go out and do your talking on the pitch.
Thev worst thing that can happen is he is crap, we lose and Mourinho can happily point his finger and say we lost because you gave the ball away, you didn’t track back and you didn’t score.
As opposed to every week some other clown in the team giving the ball away, losing possession, pushing someone over in the penalty area or scoring a ridiculous own goal.
I really hope so
I don’t like Mourinho, but i want Spurs to do well, if we win the next few games i will be very happy
If we continue to perform how we are, the poor results continue, then comparisons to his time at Man will grow.
There is a hugely polarised view on Mourinho. He is marmite
With Pep, Klopp, Ancelotti, Arteta and the majority of other managers they are all popular and liked. That automatically buys them time.
This is football not a popularity contest, but when you have a manger where half of the clubs fans don’t like and the team isn’t performing, dissent and unrest arise much quicker.
We are all human beings, we like or don’t like someone on often irrational opinions, that’s the way it is. Unfortunately Mourinho has to work much harder/ bring success much quicker than others. Weight of expectation, fans with little patience, it’s unreasonable of course, but that’s football.
Dele doesn’t put in a shift defensively (as evidenced by stats analysed on many blogs here), which is what Jose wants from the players. Based on recent evidence, he doesn’t score much either, so what exactly does he offer?
Doherty and Sanchez are played for rotation – Toby can’t play as often as he used to, and Aurier can’t play every game either. Dier seems to be a Jose favourite, but was dropped for Brighton, and rightly so: he’s been out of form for some time now.
If Jose didn’t play either of the three, we’d be left with Davies, Reguilon, Toby, Rodon, Aurier, and possibly Tanganga (who is young and has been quite injury prone), so I don’t really see the point here – do you expect Jose to go through the season with 5-6 defenders?
We have more depth in attack currently, so Dele won’t just get a place on the team by default. It’s Lucas, Bergwijn, Son, Bale, Kane, Lamela, Vinicius and Dele for the three spots up front, and right now, Dele is the odd man out.
Search the archives mate, plenty of articles and comments from a year ago about this £60m sack of poop.
There’s negativity because we’ve had half a dozen poor results, this always happens. Plus we have a superstar who can’t be arsed, and just lost our key man to injury. I’d say that will pretty much evaporate if we win the next 3-4 games on the bounce, then it will be all ‘Jose is amazing, look how he beats Chelsea, Everton and City with no Harry Kane!’
I don’t think its comparable to his final months at Man U.
WE ARE TOTTENHAM
SUPER TOTTENHAM
WE ARE TOTTENHAM
FROM THE LANE.
YID ARRRRRRRMY
Ronnie Rosenthal used to run a lot, didn’t make him a good player or worth having in the team.
What is Dorothy, Dier, Sanchez et all doing to convince Mourinho they should be in the team, as working hard in training hasnt translated to them playing well on a Saturday?
He’s not a Jose player, he may do wonders else where…do you keep hold of him while Jose is here with constant questions why he isn’t playing or sell him now before his value drops even more…I wish it had worked out but I dont think it will under Jose so lets move on and spend wisely…
To be fair that was a mess before H rocked up.
Wondered why H hasn’t done a bit on that…seemed like old Harry was auditioning for the part. He said Bale don’t drink or smoke how’s he lost his pace?
Maybe the 12 ankle injury’s Harry? I love Redknapp but never go back.
Deles on the verge of going down as one of the biggest wastes of talent ever. When he was 17 at MK he was a mold for England’s next Gerrard; technique, strength, box to box, goal threat, then somehow he became a number 10 and lost the edge and his character along with it. Complete midfielders don’t come through now, it’s holder or primadonna No.10.
I’d get him in the gym, throw a few darts at him and play him deeper, where he should have been coached and developed to play.
Everyone wants to be Messi these days, nobody wants to be Bryan Robson.
Bearing mind the amount of crap we have in the squad are we really going to give up on a 24 year old undoubted talent? There’s been many a gamechanger who doesn’t train particularly well. Time will tell as with all things but my opinion is we’d be making a mistake. Again.
Here lies the problem at the moment. For whatever reason Jose doesn’t feel he’s worthy of selection and really it shouldn’t matter. Players fall out of favour when management changes all the time.
Where the problems start is when the club’s policy is to oversee the squad and hire and fire managers as they feel they need to. The ‘continental model’, that Levy has always advocated and really most clubs are run this way now. Eventually there becomes an impasse, if however you’re winning without said player, your position as manager remains strong, you are perhaps justified.
Jose is at a bit of a crossroads with all of this. If we get back to winning and back on track then it will go away. If we don’t and we enter a real slump (which we aren’t yet in) then the people running the club will say look, you’ve got a squad tire just going to have to use it.
He’s not alone, the players are worth more as assets than the coaches. I can imagine some quite interesting conversations at Hotspur Way between Levy and Jose right now involving Dele and Bale in particular…
Deles yet to blame racism for his troubles so….
Also its a display of the nature of box office Jose and his attraction that winning or losing, he’s a paper seller, a unit shifter, a click getter etc. The last 2 days it’s all the media can talk about. On the radio Jose Jose Jose….the seasons far from over. There are 54 points up for grabs.
The Prem know Jose is the market, a good story always has twists.
Dont forget his stint at QPR. Another Fine Mess.
I see the “Free Dele” campaign in the media really has done a number on some posters.
So many people seem to think Mourinho has some sort of irrational grudge towards Dele. He doesn’t. With the team performing as it has been, there is NO reason why Dele shouldn’t play, if he’s putting in the work and is as good as most pundits (and many fans) seem to think he is. But he isn’t.
If Bergwijn is selected ahead of you, what more proof do you need that hard work is what’s required? He never scores and rarely assists, but he never stops running and trying to be there defensively and offensively – you know, impacting the game whether or not he has that one goalscoring moment.
Mourinho told Dele he had to work hard several times just over the course of the Amazon documentary and he also discussed the issue with Levy on camera – but maybe that was all just for the cameras, and behind the scenes, Dele works like Kane?
Dele was one of our most prized assets (much like Tanguy is now) – so why do you think one has worked out under Jose and the other hasn’t? “Oh but Levy wouldn’t let Jose sell Tanguy so he HAD to make it work!” No. Both were top talents with problems, but Tanguy chose to address them and do what the manager wanted him to, while Dele opened his IG account to like a post by Merson saying “Dele has to play” while eating a chocolate bar.
One is arguably our best player and the other will probably be shunted off to watch Mbappe and Neymar from PSG’s bench in the summer.
Stop calling for him. If he convinces Jose in training, he will play; if he doesn’t, he won’t. There’s nothing more to it.
Bring Redsnapps back, ive heard it all now!! F#kc Alli and his 100k a week pay check….been saying for ages, just sell them and move on…
Stand firm we’re being attacked. Oh it’s you lot!
We know Dele has not been the player he was and that is in part down to him.
However, I think it’s clear that he’ll not get a chance with Jose. Yes Jose got TN playing to his potential, but I think the turnaround was more that Levy wouldn’t allow Jose to get rid of him, take a loss and look like a bad buy, Jose had no choice but to work with him.
My opinion is that it’s different for Dele. Money to spend on players has probably been discussed and Dele has been singled out by Jose to sell and add to the money available ( also for a profit by Levy).
It is so clear Jose’s bias against Dele. Rodon had a reasonable game against Liverpool, but cost us a goal. Jose mentioned the mistake but went on to praise him, good management. Dele had a reasonable game against Brentford (albeit different opponents), but Jose couldn’t resist complaining about Dele losing the ball in midfIeld that EVENTUALLY led to a goal, no mentioned about the rest of his game that he did well..!
Also agree that Dele is liked by all other players and that could become an issue if it’s seen his being treated unfairly, but Jose seems to be above all of that.
Have you been at the training sessions?
Maybe it’s just the media, i think not, there is a huge amount of negativity around the club.
Let’s cast our minds back to his last job in situ, Man U, that was a horribly toxic atmosphere. Issues with the playing style, falling out with players, playing players out of position, falling out with everyone and blaming everyone but himself. The interviews are pathetic, the players are sad, we were the better team, i am proud of the boys they really fought hard. Blah blah.
There aren’t that many clubs at the moment with more negativity about them than us, Newcastle being the perpetual club of misery.
Why is there so much negativity? Listen to every pundit (sure they are all idiots who don’t understand the game), you don’t find too many saying Mourinho is doing a good job. Most are critical. Maybe they all have agendas.
We are 6th, not 16th, we are on a bad run, so, that happens, happened to Liverpool, Man C, Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal. We have gone from top and potential champions to no chance of champions league football.
The extremes are huge, but the difference here is that we are starting to feel like a Newcastle. There is a hatred towards the chairman and Bruce, this is starting to manifest here and i fear it gets a lot worse.
You’re unaware of Luke Shaw’s off-field problems.
That’s okay. Keep making stuff up. Nobody has noticed. You sound informed.
1. Lose the profanity or you’re gone.
2. Kindly refer to ANY WEBSITE in respect of TN’s initial games for us.
3. If that’s too complicated, get a photo of him when he joined us when he was fat, then compare it to him today.
4. Watch All or Nothing; specifically the interview he has with Levy.
You could get top billing at the London Palladium with comments like that.
I know how much Redknapp took Birmingham City for but if I go into detail I’ll get sued. Has it occurred to you to ask why nobody had hired uncle Harry in recent years?
A quicker solution is you go and support Leicester. You have a bizarre obsession with Rodgers and ceaseless zeal for their business structure.
‘Everybody’
Are these the same everybody that wanted Bale to start against Liverpool? (That includes you btw)
The moment I hear the mob are in favour of something is the moment I know something really stupid has caught on.
DD, you have opted to ignore every single concern that has been voiced about this useless manchild, and prefer to listen to the man Levy fired by Skype when they were both in the same building.
As far as transfers go for Prem clubs that looks pretty decent compared to most clubs ??
Spurs have been the general freaks in that league table and it could have been better if they had let erikson go at the right time for instance.
Clearly their is a clash of egos with only one winner!
Needless to say that I fully concur with Redknapp’s comments instead of destroying the lad. Nonsensical if you ask me!
Bruce many thanks for your financial analysis which despite their ongoing yearly financial losses perhaps distorts the overall success of their recruitment process? In fact when the Foxes won the PL title in 2016 at odds of 5,000-1 the team essentially comprised of a team of journeymen as compared to the riches of Man City et al. Currently led by an astute manager they have since maintained their competitive edge which shows no immediate signs of abating by recruiting the likes of Maddison, Tielemans plus other decent signings I was focusing on. Finding another irreplaceable Vardy integral to their success (as irreplaceable Kane is to Spurs) which I believe they bought from a non league club, Weymouth for a modest figure won’t be easy and possibly coincide with their decline.
Gazza’s gone out on loan, he’s so much better than The Giraffe. Piss poor treatment from the club IMHO😭
When has Pep Guardiola ever signed dross? Even Kyle Walker couldn’t be termed so!
Floppy Chops has had plenty to say about it in the last day or two.
Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp tells Sky Sports News:
“Daniel Levy knows he’s a good player. He’s a fantastic talent, a young player, why would you want to let him go? They want to get the best out him, there’s a shortage of great young players.
“John Stones couldn’t get in the team at Man City, now he’s looking a fantastic player like we knew he was. It’s the same with Alli; get into his head, get him sorted out, I need you out there on the pitch. There’s got to be some way to get into his head.
“His ability’s still there, he was such a talent. You remember watching him under Pochettino, two goals against Chelsea one night, he was fantastic arriving in the box. He’s got everything, you’ve got a top manager, that’s where he earns his money – get the best out of Dele Alli.
“People tell me he’s a good lad. I don’t know what the problem is, obviously it’s up to Jose, but Daniel Levy knows he’s a good player. He’s not going to let him go.”
Harry putting an arm around him would have cured his tendon and muscular problems? Who knew old rednose was a faith healer, should have done some praying over Ledley’s knees and Van der Vaart’s entire carcass while he was here to get 90min out of him, we could have won all kinds of stuff with those two healthy.
We could let’s look at their outgoings and incomings since they won the title
20/21
Spent €62.00m
Received €52.77m
Loss €9.23m
19/20
Spent €104.30m
Received €88.50m
Loss €15.8m
18/19
Spent €114.60m
Received €95.80m
Loss €18.8m
17/18
Spent €88.20m
Received €50.10m
Loss €38.1m
16/17
Spent €92.10m
Received €66.05m
Loss €26.05m
That is a combined loss in transfer business of €107.98m. Additionally, the previous seven years also saw them lose money on transfers every single season, that is a cool 12 years running.
You see, Leicester get the headlines with the sales of Drinkwater, Kante, Maguire and Mahrez and the huge profits they made but it is ignored the tens of dross they bought as well and I am talking a huge amount of players, for example, 27 players, not including loans in the above years.
Leicester are doing very well right now but it will not last long term, they simply do not have the structure or finances to compete over an extended period of time, Tottenham does, especially once the Stadium starts paying its way.
I far prefer our way and the talent we have and what they are worth and our long term prospects as opposed to a team that has made losses every year for 12 years in the transfer market.
After our disgraceful defeat against lowly Brighton, yes Brighton, Alli needs to be playing not wasted on the side lines. Everybody knows that except for our supposed master tactician!!
Perhaps we ought to focus on the successful Leicester City recruitment process!!
Maybe not £60 million but certainly €22m on Vincent Janssen €42m on Davinson Sánchez €25m Serge Aurier, an utter nightmare that Mourinho buying those sort of players, oh hang on, that was not on his watch. Wish we had a manager like Pep Guardiola who can waste a quarter of a billion on dross, Arsenal £72 million on Pepe, Chelsea same amount on Havertz and whatever Werner cost. Every single manager has bought crap and sold talent not just Jose but of course, he gets pulled up on it, every single manager falls out with players and no more so than Fergie did, Beckham, Stam Keane etc but of course, it is Mourinho that is the worse of the lot. I could go on but what’s the point, it’s all Mourinho and Levy.
With a friendly arm around his shoulder I am convinced Harry Redknapp’s easy going style of management would have resolved this strange saga quickly!
Mourinho picks at least one at every club & destroys them but all we hear is how Mourinho’s magic has made Ndombele a great player. Strange as I can’t remember spending £60million on a sack of shit
I can’t see Mourinho giving him a chance, he clearly doesn’t rate him/ want him. Which is fine, Managers are entitled to make their own calls. Those calls look fine if the team are performing, if not, the clamour to get Dele in the team increases and that’s backs Mourinho into a corner.
It’s the way you deal with players, especially at Spurs were they are tight, have been together for a good few years and have grown together.
Some fans believe that Ali is getting what he deserves, on the other hand the press, some fans and maybe the players see it differently.
it’s not a good situation, if the manager wanted him out, Levy should have done a deal, loan/sold at the start of the window.
We do this far too often, mess around, just get it done, it’s healthier and better for all concerned. Otherwise you end up in this situation which ultimately could see the players feel sorry for Dele (maybe that’s why they are sad.)
I was very surprised Tanguy turned it around, i can’t see how Dele can.
Synonymous to the Luke Shaw situation at Man Utd the harsh treatment of Alli brutally dumped on the scrapheap deserved or not (whom arguably ought to have been selected against Brighton) has been shameful and seemingly symptomatic of the darker side of Mourinhos character!