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Dele Alli

Why though? my one concern with Mason is the lack of meritocracy so far in selection (he claimed Dele did something in training)

No way Dele deserves a start over Lucas at this point, give him 30 minutes to get time, but a strait out start?
Meritocracy based on form and recent performances is only one factor that goes into player selection I think. As it should be for me.

Dele has a sky high ceiling, way above Moura's. He's obviously not been playing much, but giving him game time to find match fitness and form is the kind of decision that makes sense.

This was probably the best game Dele could have been given to find some momentum for the rest of the season and going into next season. On one side it's not "fair" on Moura that's done well, on the other side that's football when a hugely talented player is lacking game time and form for whatever reason.
 
Why though? my one concern with Mason is the lack of meritocracy so far in selection (he claimed Dele did something in training)

No way Dele deserves a start over Lucas at this point, give him 30 minutes to get time, but a strait out start?

Fair point regarding Lucas deserving the start over Dele. I didn’t really think of it as who deserved the start more the point that to see the best of Dele he’d need some more starts.
Overall I think Dele has a higher ceiling than Lucas. But could not argue if Lucas started the next game. Assuming he’s back to full fitness as he didn’t train much last week according to Masons interview.
 
Why though? my one concern with Mason is the lack of meritocracy so far in selection (he claimed Dele did something in training)

No way Dele deserves a start over Lucas at this point, give him 30 minutes to get time, but a strait out start?

I believe Moura has been one of our best players over the last few weeks so i think you are spot on.
 
It might not be a question of Moura or Dele and might just be more a question of what Mason wants from the role

Say Mason decided that he wanted to play Kane, Son and Bale, and also that PEH and GLC were his CM pairing. If he's then looking at the no 10 role and decides he wants someone who is more creative, more physically and could do more deeper, then Dele is the logical choice. If he wants someone to play further up and run at defenders, then its Moura
 
Why though? my one concern with Mason is the lack of meritocracy so far in selection (he claimed Dele did something in training)

No way Dele deserves a start over Lucas at this point, give him 30 minutes to get time, but a strait out start?

didn’t Mason say Moura hadn’t trained this week? (I think I saw someone mention it in the match thread). So maybe he wasn’t fully well to start?
 
One thing that Dele did yesterday that neither Moura or Ndombele do is he continuously moved into space and showed for the ball. He gave the defenders options to pass it forward which has been missing in a lot of games.
How true he gave us many more option and they were more penetrating options.
 
didn’t Mason say Moura hadn’t trained this week? (I think I saw someone mention it in the match thread). So maybe he wasn’t fully well to start?
Yeah, don’t know if the reason for Lucas missing training has been revealed though.

Perhaps unlucky not to be included in the team again by Mason, the interim boss has revealed that the Brazilian only just returned to the training pitch on Saturday.

"Dele's had an excellent training week," the Spurs interim boss said ahead of the game. "I feel like he's stood out and I want to reward him for that. He's shown a hunger to compete in training. He's fit and I know what he's capable of.

"Lucas missed training all week and only returned to training yesterday. Gareth also had a good training week and it felt like the right time to bring him back in."

https://www.football.london/tottenh...lts/dele-alli-sheffield-united-mason-20513854
 
I thought that Dele was excellent yesterday.

I agree. Several things stood out to me aside of any execution or things actually coming off.

1. Pressing/Tempo - from the word go he was up and at em. Looked a bit tired late on but that was expected.

2. Showing for the ball - Sounds so basic but our midfield haven’t been brave for a while. One thing Dele will always do is demand the ball.

3. He bounced straight up from a heavy tackle. This indicated to me that he just wanted to play football and leave the silly stuff behind.

4. He was visibly disappointed when things didn’t come off. There were a few - but that’s to be expected with such little game time.


I think if Dele were a new player or youth player that gave that performance many would be excited. We just need to be remain patient.

We also need to reset our expectations of Dele. He’s no longer playing right off Kane. Son and Bale are much higher and he doesn’t have an Eriksen to find those late box runs. The days of 20 goals and 15 assists in a season are probably gone, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a valuable part of the squad/team.
 
It might not be a question of Moura or Dele and might just be more a question of what Mason wants from the role

Say Mason decided that he wanted to play Kane, Son and Bale, and also that PEH and GLC were his CM pairing. If he's then looking at the no 10 role and decides he wants someone who is more creative, more physically and could do more deeper, then Dele is the logical choice. If he wants someone to play further up and run at defenders, then its Moura

Absolutely. For me Alli in the 10 is much more suited to a passing/possession game. He has clever passing and can disrupt things with his physicality. Whereas Moura is more direct and good at exploiting space - either tired legs or a team that leaves gaps at the back.

I'm sure it's purely tactical. Mason has gone back to a Poch setup, and Poch had a very specific role for Moura, which wasn't often as a starter.
 
Absolutely. For me Alli in the 10 is much more suited to a passing/possession game. He has clever passing and can disrupt things with his physicality. Whereas Moura is more direct and good at exploiting space - either tired legs or a team that leaves gaps at the back.

I'm sure it's purely tactical. Mason has gone back to a Poch setup, and Poch had a very specific role for Moura, which wasn't often as a starter.

Yep, one different to the Poch set-up though is that he had Eriksen as a creator in the front 4, whereas the 4 on Sunday didnt have that.

You could argue that Kane is more creative than he used to be, and Bale isnt a pure winger, but that lack of a playmaker is my only concern about the front 4 from the weekend. I guess if a game was tight, we could bring Ndombele in for Dele
 
I thought that Dele was excellent yesterday.
Excellent towards the end before getting subbed (probably rightly so).

Didn't think he was excellent in the first half, but he was good and looked better than he has in a long time.

Think he will continue to improve with game time, but every game for the rest of the season will be harder than that Sheffield United game.
 
doing stuff off the ball is helpful (see kane drawing defenders away for Bale 3rd). but ultimately, didn't think Dele did much of note on Sunday and was lucky to not be subbed off.

As others have pointed out, you can not like/rate Moura, but in the No10 role since the turn of the year, he's been one of our best performers, easily up there with Kane and now you can add Bale to that list.

Can argue til the cows come home about "a players ceiling and natural ability" etc - the fact is, Moura has outperformed Dele when given the role in the middle.
 
doing stuff off the ball is helpful (see kane drawing defenders away for Bale 3rd). but ultimately, didn't think Dele did much of note on Sunday and was lucky to not be subbed off.

As others have pointed out, you can not like/rate Moura, but in the No10 role since the turn of the year, he's been one of our best performers, easily up there with Kane and now you can add Bale to that list.

Can argue til the cows come home about "a players ceiling and natural ability" etc - the fact is, Moura has outperformed Dele when given the role in the middle.
That is a fact. It's also a fact that this fact doesn't dictate player selection.

Alli getting a chance to find some form could end up being really useful for us.
 
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