Dele Alli

[Finney Is Back]

Yeah
I mean those scale of clubs that he wanted

Eriksen was in the top three (and I think often very top) in the PL for assists and key passes for 3 seasons in a row. It takes a special player to do that.

I don't think Bayern needed him, they were already just about perfect in terms of their team. I don't think Eriksen would've been right for Madrid. I think it takes a very certain kind of player to play for Madrid and it's not all about ability. Juventus I think might've picked him up had he waited and gone on a free (they love paying high wages for free transfers). Barcelona though I think missed a trick as Eriksen is ideally suited to their system. He moves the ball brilliantly has great touch and vision and is very good at pressing.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I disagree. The players had a lot more to do in those games than they did
Even the Chelsea league cup semi... that was weak, although in the end we did well to take it to pelanties

We were running on empty IMO. No Kane, no Son, no Dele, no Trippier, no Wanyama, Dembele just gone with no replacement, Lloris on the bench.... So 6 first team players missing (not including Dembele). A midfield with Dier, Winks, Sissoko and Lamela all starting in it. Llorente up front on his own. It was almost a miracle that we made it to penalties.... When we did so we then had probably three or four of those who would've been taking one missing - Kane, Son, Dele and (perhaps) Trippier) as well as our one and only decent keeper rested.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Eriksen was in the top three (and I think often very top) in the PL for assists and key passes for 3 seasons in a row. It takes a special player to do that.

I don't think Bayern needed him, they were already just about perfect in terms of their team. I don't think Eriksen would've been right for Madrid. I think it takes a very certain kind of player to play for Madrid and it's not all about ability. Juventus I think might've picked him up had he waited and gone on a free (they love paying high wages for free transfers). Barcelona though I think missed a trick as Eriksen is ideally suited to their system. He moves the ball brilliantly has great touch and vision and is very good at pressing.

Erisken was world class
I said it plenty of times
But to be world class you when to show a mentality too
I believe that clubs would have looked at his mentality and thought... nah not there
He should have been wanted by those clubs for his ability but that has to work hand in hand with his mindset

 

[Bedfordspurs]

We were running on empty IMO. No Kane, no Son, no Dele, no Trippier, no Wanyama, Dembele just gone with no replacement, Lloris on the bench.... So 6 first team players missing (not including Dembele). A midfield with Dier, Winks, Sissoko and Lamela all starting in it. Llorente up front on his own. It was almost a miracle that we made it to pelanties.... When we did so we then had probably three or four of those who would've been taking one missing - Kane, Son, Dele and (perhaps) Trippier) as well as our one and only decent keeper rested.

That game was one of 3 semis lost just in that period
It’s not always the managers fault surely?
It’s a mentality thing. People know we have been weak in crunch games when it matters

 

[billyiddo]

Eriksen would have been coveted by those sorts of clubs had we been looking to sell a couple of years earlier

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Eriksen would have been coveted by those sorts of clubs had we been looking to sell a couple of years earlier

Coveted yes
But none would have paid the money we would have wanted
That kind of money woodland have been for elite performers... and those elite performers as we regularly get reminded have a CV that matches the value
Otherwise your buying potential... and unless your silly like we have seen with Chelsea you don’t pay the massive premium for that

 

[billyiddo]

Coveted yes
But none would have paid the money we would have wanted
That kind of money woodland have been for elite performers... and those elite performers as we regularly get reminded have a CV that matches the value
Otherwise your buying potential... and unless your silly like we have seen with Chelsea you don’t pay the massive premium for that

We didn't want to sell, therefore there was no price. If we were open to selling something would have happened. Don't forget at this point we were a team in ascendancy and no one wanted to leave

 

[Bedfordspurs]

We didn't want to sell, therefore there was no price. If we were open to selling something would have happened. Don't forget at this point we were a team in ascendancy and no one wanted to leave

I don’t disagree
But I also don’t believe someone would have paid the money we wanted for a player who hasn’t won a thing here
The guys numbers were world class and I don’t care what anyone says, he has world class ability when his head is on it. There really isn’t many id out ahead of him.
But for the money we would have commanded you could have brought a proven player with a better cv for less
We have a tendency to over rate and under rate our players as the same time as fans
Eriksen was under rated when it became clear he wanted to leave but his levels did drop. He hasn’t picked up the level again at Inter either. It does look like a Sanchez situation all over again.

 

[billyiddo]

What had Bale/Berbatov or Modric won we sold them? A league cup?

Anyway this all another pedantic hypothetical - your initial point was regarding why these players never went to big clubs and the fact is when they were available they were no longer playing at the level required so any point regarding mentality is moot

 

[Bishop]

Coveted yes
But none would have paid the money we would have wanted
That kind of money woodland have been for elite performers... and those elite performers as we regularly get reminded have a CV that matches the value
Otherwise your buying potential... and unless your silly like we have seen with Chelsea you don’t pay the massive premium for that

I don’t disagree
But I also don’t believe someone would have paid the money we wanted for a player who hasn’t won a thing here
The guys numbers were world class and I don’t care what anyone says, he has world class ability when his head is on it. There really isn’t many id out ahead of him.
But for the money we would have commanded you could have brought a proven player with a better cv for less
We have a tendency to over rate and under rate our players as the same time as fans
Eriksen was under rated when it became clear he wanted to leave but his levels did drop. He hasn’t picked up the level again at Inter either. It does look like a Sanchez situation all over again.

Eriksen had world class talent but not a world class mentality. When it comes to the crunch he doesn't have that killer instinct. Some players no matter the talent just lack that quality and that is his big downside and always was with Eriksen. So for me it was no surprise the likes of Barca and Real weren't interested. He actually doesn't fit their criteria, talent alone is not enough at those clubs. They have a litany of talented played who couldn't handle the pressure and perform when the brick hit the fan, they don't last.


Even Dele now, I've never thought there were any clubs that would seriously pay above 65m for him. His playstyle is pretty specific and there are few clubs that have a space for his player type. For a big sale to happen he would have had to continue to put in very high numbers and the approach would have had to come from a City or Chelsea and to be honest I think they both could if spending that much get an equally good and more versatile and suited player from elsewhere.

 

[SteveAWOL]

So Dele’s frustration following the Sheffield match was actually due to being injured...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1352608218980233216

 

[Finney Is Back]

That game was one of 3 semis lost just in that period
It’s not always the managers fault surely?
It’s a meteorology thing. People know we have been weak in crunch games when it matters

The other two semis.....

1. Man Utd. We played well, went ahead (I think great ball by Eriksen and Dele finish) only for Dembele to uncharacteristically get his pocket picked by Pogba. Lost a tight second half... didn’t play badly or choke, just the balls didn’t fall for us. That was the one we should’ve won though IMO.

2. Chelsea. Their deeper squad showed as they brought on Hazard, Costa and Fabregas, whereas we brought on Nkoudou and Walker. We actually controlled the game, especially up to point that they made their double substitution of Hazard and Costa. Unfortunately though we just didn’t have the same depth of quality as them. Incidentally that was another semi final that Dele scored in and Eriksen got 2 assists....

Maybe Eriksen and Dele are big game players after all?)

 

[Finney Is Back]

Coveted yes
But none would have paid the money we would have wanted
That kind of money woodland have been for elite performers... and those elite performers as we regularly get reminded have a CV that matches the value
Otherwise your buying potential... and unless your silly like we have seen with Chelsea you don’t pay the massive premium for that

So it’s a similar story for Kane and Son as well then?

 

[Bedfordspurs]

So it’s a similar story for Kane and Son as well then?

Yep
It’s a stick to beat them with

 

[90291Spur]

The other two semis.....

1. Man Utd. We played well, went ahead (I think great ball by Eriksen and Dele finish) only for Dembele to uncharacteristically get his pocket picked by Pogba. Lost a tight second half... didn’t play badly or choke, just the balls didn’t fall for us. That was the one we should’ve won though IMO.

2. Chelsea. Their deeper squad showed as they brought on Hazard, Costa and Fabregas, whereas we brought on Nkoudou and Walker. We actually controlled the game, especially up to point that they made their double substitution of Hazard and Costa. Unfortunately though we just didn’t have the same depth of quality as them. Incidentally that was another semi final that Dele scored in and Eriksen got 2 assists....

Maybe Eriksen and Dele are big game players after all?)

Dele was pretty influential in the Ajax away leg too, as I recall.

 

[parklane1]

Pretty much correct. Which confirms that Dele only really works in a specific system, tailored for him, with exactly the right players around him, and he becomes uneffective in other systems. That does not translate to a 100m pound player. Those players are supposed to be game changers, no matter the circumstances.
Dele is far from that.

Could not agree more, said it on here a few times Alli is a very talented player but he does not fit into our way of playing.

 

[Modric THFC]

Anyone else think that Alli was doing alright under Mourinho until All or Nothing came out. He had the second most amount of screen time after Mourinho.
That is what I think he did wrong. The line where he complains about long balls definitely didn't help.
I honestly believe he'd be in the team if it wasn't for the documentary.

 

[StephenH]

Anyone else think that Alli was doing alright under Mourinho until All or Nothing came out. He had the second most amount of screen time after Mourinho.
That is what I think he did wrong. The line where he complains about long balls definitely didn't help.
I honestly believe he'd be in the team if it wasn't for the documentary.

I truly hope your wrong! Not even Jose can be that myopic, surely!

 

[billyiddo]

Haven't seen the doc but there was a screenshot floating around from the West Ham game where Dele is slagging off the negative tactics and he's barely been seen since.


Fair to say the low block, long ball tactics don't suit him, not sure why anyone would think he doesn't suit our current game plan though

 

[90291Spur]

Haven't seen the doc but there was a screenshot floating around from the West Ham game where Dele is slagging off the negative tactics and he's barely been seen since.


Fair to say the low block, long ball tactics don't suit him, not sure why anyone would think he doesn't suit our current game plan though

it's impressive that a screenshot can convey a conversation. or was Dele holding up a bit of paper with his analysis of the tactics on it?