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Dele Alli

milo said:
I think that he could work in a 4-3-3 but he'd have to adapt his game slightly.
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In the midfield 3?
His passing IMO isn’t good enough
It’s why we struggle with sissoko at times (who obviously has other strengths)
Dele is a box player who just comes alive in that final third
I could see he working as a false 9 with two pacey wide men alongside him kind alike a Firmino
 
Bedfordspurs said:
In the midfield 3?
His passing IMO isn’t good enough
It’s why we struggle with sissoko at times (who obviously has other strengths)
Dele is a box player who just comes alive in that final third
I could see he working as a false 9 with two pacey wide men alongside him kind alike a Firmino
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I don't see things as black and white as you. Which is why I said he'd have to adapt his game slightly.
 
milo said:
I don't see things as black and white as you. Which is why I said he'd have to adapt his game slightly.
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I don’t see things black and white
I see things as I see them with my own eyes
He started as a CM at MK when I saw him play and he looked a real player there
His game changed for us as we didn’t play him there and when we have now he looks unsuited to it and seems to kinda get in the way
He is now IMO much more suited to the attacking roles as it suits his game
 
I don't think Dele has actually played that much in a midfield three for us. Been games here and there, but it was rarely the go to formation for Poch and hasn't been so for Mourinho either.

Assuming both wide players are asked to put in a solid shift defensively (I think that can be assumed with Mourinho and our players) one of the box to box roles in the midfield three can be given quite a lot of attacking freedom.

I think it could work. At least quite a bit better than playing Dele as one of the two deeper midfielders in a pairing. To what extent it will work I think its still unknown.
 
parklane1 said:
For me Dele has to play off the front man, he is not the same player when he drops deep.
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I think we might agree, but just to point out. I think he's perhaps at his best when arriving into the final third and the box. Finding space, doing his thing on the ball.

In a way a "starting position" too high (false nine, centre forward) or too low makes him less effective imo.

I think as a part of a midfield three I think he could find that sweet spot. Though it would rarely called playing off the front man, the actual role could be similar enough.
 
parklane1 said:
For me Dele has to play off the front man, he is not the same player when he drops deep.
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Dele will need to do the defensive/ratting job that all players now seem to have to do and I am not too sure this is something that is in Dele armoury.
 
braineclipse said:
I think we might agree, but just to point out. I think he's perhaps at his best when arriving into the final third and the box. Finding space, doing his thing on the ball.

In a way a "starting position" too high (false nine, centre forward) or too low makes him less effective imo.

I think as a part of a midfield three I think he could find that sweet spot. Though it would rarely called playing off the front man, the actual role could be similar enough.
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You could be right, but as i have said before i am not sure if we play 3 CM just what his role would be. Do not get me wrong he has bags of talent but we have seen a lot of that is wasted when he is asked to work on build ups, he is more dangerous when he plays off the cuff and to do that at his best he has to have a free role.

At the moment Jose seems to want to play both Moura and Son together as the wide players, Lo Celso is a starter and IF we get the DM we badly need then we only have the one place ( ie off Kane). I guess we will see.
 
parklane1 said:
You could be right, but as i have said before i am not sure if we play 3 CM just what his role would be. Do not get me wrong he has bags of talent but we have seen a lot of that is wasted when he is asked to work on build ups, he is more dangerous when he plays off the cuff and to do that at his best he has to have a free role.

At the moment Jose seems to want to play both Moura and Son together as the wide players, Lo Celso is a starter and IF we get the DM we badly need then we only have the one place ( ie off Kane). I guess we will see.
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In a three man midfield, you could have Lo Celso and Dele playing either side of a DM. Dele could be a real asset on the break. I also think that he could be an option in a front three, if we played narrow on one side and we know he's great at number 10. Mourinho has also played him off Kane in a 4-4-2. He'll need to adapt slightly with the first two but they are probably a more natural fit for him than the diamond Poch played in his last year.
 
parklane1 said:
You could be right, but as i have said before i am not sure if we play 3 CM just what his role would be. Do not get me wrong he has bags of talent but we have seen a lot of that is wasted when he is asked to work on build ups, he is more dangerous when he plays off the cuff and to do that at his best he has to have a free role.

At the moment Jose seems to want to play both Moura and Son together as the wide players, Lo Celso is a starter and IF we get the DM we badly need then we only have the one place ( ie off Kane). I guess we will see.
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I think his role would be as the more attacking of the two box to box players. Get up around Kane, make things happen in the final third. Leaving the other box to box player to do more of the creative work.

At some point as you give on box to box player more and more attacking freedom and less defensive responsibility or merges into more of a 4-2-3-1. It really just depends on how far back the player is asked to get back when defending and organised.

Of course there will be limits in terms of stamina for his attacking freedom of he's asked to get back into a three all the time. So Perhaps the #10 role really is much better for him. I just think it's too early to tell.
 
milo said:
In a three man midfield, you could have Lo Celso and Dele playing either side of a DM. Dele could be a real asset on the break. I also think that he could be an option in a front three, if we played narrow on one side and we know he's great at number 10. Mourinho has also played him off Kane in a 4-4-2. He'll need to adapt slightly with the first two but they are probably a more natural fit for him than the diamond Poch played in his last year.
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You may be right but i think he plays as a free spirt and i just think that in a three man midfield he would be restricted, i guess it all depends on who/if any players we bring in this summer. For me the priority has to be a DM after that we shall see. Do not get me wrong Ali is a great talent but i really believe to get the best out of him which he has not shown for a while ( i do accept he has played some roles for the team rather then his main strengths) he should be given that fee role off Kane. As you say he looked half the player we know he is playing the diamond.
 
braineclipse said:
I think his role would be as the more attacking of the two box to box players. Get up around Kane, make things happen in the final third. Leaving the other box to box player to do more of the creative work.

At some point as you give on box to box player more and more attacking freedom and less defensive responsibility or merges into more of a 4-2-3-1. It really just depends on how far back the player is asked to get back when defending and organised.

Of course there will be limits in terms of stamina for his attacking freedom of he's asked to get back into a three all the time. So Perhaps the #10 role really is much better for him. I just think it's too early to tell.
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I can't dance with that, i guess we will have to see what Jose does.
 
parklane1 said:
You may be right but i think he plays as a free spirt and i just think that in a three man midfield he would be restricted, i guess it all depends on who/if any players we bring in this summer. For me the priority has to be a DM after that we shall see. Do not get me wrong Ali is a great talent but i really believe to get the best out of him which he has not shown for a while ( i do accept he has played some roles for the team rather then his main strengths) he should be given that fee role off Kane. As you say he looked half the player we know he is playing the diamond.
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It's certainly been his best position to date, which is why I said he'd need to adapt. As we saw in the diamond, a slightly below par Dele is frequently better than the other options. The one thing that we do know, is that he is happy to follow instructions and put the team first.
 
braineclipse said:
I think his role would be as the more attacking of the two box to box players. Get up around Kane, make things happen in the final third. Leaving the other box to box player to do more of the creative work.

At some point as you give on box to box player more and more attacking freedom and less defensive responsibility or merges into more of a 4-2-3-1. It really just depends on how far back the player is asked to get back when defending and organised.

Of course there will be limits in terms of stamina for his attacking freedom of he's asked to get back into a three all the time. So Perhaps the #10 role really is much better for him. I just think it's too early to tell.
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The Lampard role, if we are looking at former Mourinho sides.
 
If Dele doesn't leave this summer (doubt he will) he will be huge for us next year. He's going to be looking to prove a point and Jose will get the best out of him.
 
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