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Dele Alli

Cochise said:
I don't know if anyone here is handy at making GIF's but there's a clip from 79:30 in the Watford game where he danced through 3 challenges before taking a clip off Cleverly and losing the ball. Probably one of the best dribbles I've seen this year, yet no one seemed to notice it because it didn't lead to much.
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That stuck with me, if he had managed to make that into a goal, it would easily have been goal of the season.

All the other comparisons that go around are silly/lazy. Dele is 21 and pretty much unmatched in PL for achievements at that age. The Pogba & Ozil ones really are stupid, overpaid, overhyped players that have struggled with transition and at this stage in their career are not likely to suddenly get better.

Dele is at that stage, he could push on and become one of the top tier players in the world for the next 8-10 years or he could stagnate, up to him. Personally I think a couple more years under Poch would get him there, and that highlights the last difference between Dele and a lot that he is compared to, he has that attitude/belief that true top players have.
 
It's that same old debate about alcohol and sports of course, and I don't want to be the grumpy old party pooper, but I don't like to see any of our players drunk during the season either.

Now cue Dele scoring a hat trick on the weekend to make me look silly. :oops::D
 
Robbo said:
It's that same old debate about alcohol and sports of course, and I don't want to be the grumpy old party pooper, but I don't like to see any of our players drunk during the season either.

Now cue Dele scoring a hat trick on the weekend to make me look silly. :oops::D
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I prefer pochettinos approach of treating them like humans first. It's not like any of our players have been crawling out of night clubs on a regular basis.

I'm sure this is not a common practice and probably got permission from pochettino first.
 
Gazza said:
I prefer pochettinos approach of treating them like humans first. It's not like any of our players have been crawling out of night clubs on a regular basis.

I'm sure this is not a common practice and probably got permission from pochettino first.
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Poch treats them like humans, yes - *professional* humans. His emphasis has always been on professionalism, first and foremost, because players are employees of the club like any other and also icons for kids to look up to. He says it quite often.

Overall, there's certainly a limit to how relaxed a manager can be with his players, lest they end up crawling out of clubs and blowing their fortune on fly-by-night people and endless bottles of champagne - to both their own detriment and the detriment of the club's image. So @Robbo does have a valid concern - but I agree that trusting Poch and our current group of players to control themselves is a reasonable expectation. I don't care what Dele does in his off-time, and I'm happy if he got to celebrate his 21st birthday in style. I assume that Poch set out certain guidelines for him to follow, so I don't see a problem. If it were another manager and another, less seemingly level-headed squad, however, I'd be more concerned, and there @Robbo's point might be more pertinent.
 
That was from what Monday night? I'm assuming it won't be a problem with a week to recover in and so long as he doesn't make it a habit he's fine.

I'm pretty sure I've seen players of German teams drinking during Oktoberfest and they seem to cope.
 
Dele will not be fit for training judging by that vid. He'll still be half tinkled when (if) he goes in. I can see Poch reading him the riot act.
 
Rorschach said:
Dele will not be fit for training judging by that vid. He'll still be half tinkled when (if) he goes in. I can see Poch reading him the riot act.
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Maybe we need to get Dier following him around and pulling him away by the scruff of his shirt when he starts doing things he shouldn't - it worked when he got heated against Watford, so it could be adapted into a more general life rule as well. :p

Nah. He probably got smashed, but *permissibly* smashed. I don't think Poch is the sort of manager who'd be unreasonable about this, as long as you adhered to his standards of professionalism and daily conduct otherwise. He's young, wanted to celebrate his 21st birthday, did so in a way that all of us have probably done (minus the expensive bling, hordes of hangers-on and presumed oceans of Dom Perignon, anyway :) ). If he didn't show up to training today, then I presume he had Poch's permission to do so.

No doubt some journo will ask Poch about it in his pre-match presser later this week, though. Will be interesting to see how Poch contorts his face trying to answer it.
 
DubaiSpur said:
Maybe we need to get Dier following him around and pulling him away by the scruff of his shirt when he starts doing things he shouldn't - it worked when he got heated against Watford, so it could be adapted into a more general life rule as well. :p

Nah. He probably got smashed, but *permissibly* smashed. I don't think Poch is the sort of manager who'd be unreasonable about this, as long as you adhered to his standards of professionalism and daily conduct otherwise. He's young, wanted to celebrate his 21st birthday, did so in a way that all of us have probably done (minus the expensive bling, hordes of hangers-on and presumed oceans of Dom Perignon, anyway :) ). If he didn't show up to training today, then I presume he had Poch's permission to do so.

No doubt some journo will ask Poch about it in his pre-match presser later this week, though. Will be interesting to see how Poch contorts his face trying to answer it.
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Maybe. I'd say there was permission for few drinks but nothing on that scale. Don't get me wrong, I think the young man deserves to let his hair down, we've all done it, I just don't think Poch will see it that way considering the point of the season we are at. Bah, who knows I suppose.
 
Rorschach said:
Maybe. I'd say there was permission for few drinks but nothing on that scale. Don't get me wrong, I think the young man deserves to let his hair down, we've all done it, I just don't think Poch will see it that way considering the point of the season we are at. Bah, who knows I suppose.
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Our next game's on the weekend - even if you lock yourself up inside the Moet bottling plant for 24 hours straight, I think you could probably get it out of your system by the time Bournemouth show up. ;)

Nah. I trust Poch with these lads, and I trust that these lads are respectful enough of their team-mates and Poch to get permission before letting their hair down. If that trust has been broken, then we'll have an issue - but I don't think Dele's likely to do that, since he seems like a perfectly professional lad outside of his occasional on-field hot-headedness.
 
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