It wouldn’t give you the whole picture, to say that it had been a rough ride for Dele Alli since José Mourinho was appointed head coach at Tottenham. It might imply that Mourinho is somehow the problem, which he absolutely is not. Alli has also been avoided by Gareth Southgate.
Dele has been overtaken by the likes Phil Foden and Mason Mount, which must come as an indignity for Alli who has all the razzmatazz of a big English talent, but instead of delivering the goods on the pitch, has been watching as his fans miserably field a variety of excuses as to why he was coming close but it didn’t quite happen.
We all know the build up to this situation, endless tabloid splashes of the star with his model girlfriend, the endless endorsements, the robbery with hundreds of thousands of pounds in watches stolen, the boy hit headline after headline, but virtually never whilst wearing the shirt.
At the time of writing, Dele’s Instagram post has received over 200,000 likes, but I wonder of the superstar understands that the only ‘like’ worth a damn in his professional life would be one from José?
Totally
ah yep, wooosh. bad miss from me haha
He probably also realises that, even if he has to leave, it’s best to be as fit and battle hardened as possible to maximise the possibility of finding a good suitor.
Jose still uses a 6 (DM eg Hojbjerg), an 8 (CM eg Sissoko), and a 10 (AM, eg Ndombele) in the moving triangle midfield of his 433. They have to overlap territories a bit more, but Dele could find a spot if he constantly works off of the ball instead of only searching for that moment of ‘perceived’ brilliance with a flick or backheel.
He honestly must learn a completely different playing style. His habits of trotting, looking for those little moments of flattery, are ingrained from his youth days due to always being praised.
It takes no talent to hustle. Dele’s game needs industry off of the ball. Constant industry. It’s that simple. He still has opportunities for his brief moments of talent… more of them, honestly, if he’s being industrious.
But his entire motivation for playing needs to change.
I think there are minutes for him at the 8 and at the 10. But a dawdler off the ball cannot play either one of them in this system.
I think he’s referring to “Sid Vicious”.
is Sid his actual nickname? If so, what is the reason why?
Let’s put it charitably, Dele is saying the right things, which is good to see. If he is also DOING the right things, in training, then there is certainly a chance to get back into Mourinho’s good graces and more importantly back into the team.
It won’t be easy though, because his best position is as a #10, which is what Jose said when he first arrived and that is not a formation that Jose uses very often (although he did in the last 15 minutes against West Brom).
The further problem for Dele, even if Mourinho does use that formation, is that ‘Sid’ (Vinicious) is now ahead of him in the pecking order for that #10/auxiliary striker role. So it’s not an easy path back, but if he shows the right attitude then he can get another chance.
Jose is a club man. Dele is a Dele man. Instead of posting 4-word nonsense all it takes is 4-letter posts to get him closer to being back in the team. COYS.
IF he is putting in the work in then gym and the playing field and shows the commitment necessary to force himself back into first team reckoning then I totally support him 100% and hope that he is successful as this gives us another good player we can use.
I see a figure of £30m being bandied about is this reasonable for the covid world?
I think he’s trying to do the sensible thing and knuckle down to earn his spot back. This should be applauded. Problem is he’s going to find it tough given the shape of the team these days. If he does manage to get back some form and improve as a player, it can only be a good thing. The only question is whether he will be able to sustain this effort.
Hopefully, Dele is actually giving himself the boot up the jacksie he actually needs.
If looking at that England squads selected midfielders & not realising he’s a better player than every one of them doesn’t fire him up, nothing will.
By the holy… for once I agree fully! The lad has been wildly mismanaged by his “team”. There comes a point where your need for brand exposure needs to be backed by quality. It’s like Lada forking out to sponsor I’m a Celeb… lots of people will know your name, but you’ll still be an upside down skip on wheels. Take care of business on the pitch, and business will take care of you off it.