Dele Alli

[Finney Is Back]

And this is my biggest gripe with this lazy narrative about Dele. He's a "party boy, more worried about tik tok, lost his edge"... It's all nonsense. He might have gone through a bit of a lull, particularly after his hamstring injury, but the biggest issue was the role we asked him to do.

Mourinho also made it a point of slinging Dele off at half time on more than one occasion. Make no mistake we knew who Mourinho wanted to take the fall for some results.

I honestly believe him when he says he just wants to be happy and play football. Hope he gets to do that.

I think Mourinho’s problem with Dele started after he called out what we could all see in front of the Amazon cameras…. That we were playing brick long ball football. I don’t think Mourinho liked Dele embarrassing him like that and his card was then marked. Blaming Dele for the goal we conceded against Stoke just confirmed that for me.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I think Mourinho also had a motive with Dele…. He knew transfer and wage funds were tight, knew he needed new players and wanted to sell one of the players who might still command a reasonable transfer fee but didn’t fit his system. He was therefore trying to push Dele out of the door. The story was that the chairman stepped in and wouldn’t allow Dele to leave, which I think is very wrong and one of the (many) reasons why I was so happy to see us bring in a DoF (I think our last two transfer windows would’ve been carnage otherwise).

 

[Spoonman]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Can't his waste of space get off the main page and go to general. He is not a spurs player.

 

[JerusalemMan]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

I think your post is a very fair summary.
Especially in not buying the easy blaming of Mourinho. That clip of Jose talking to Dele about his future seemed sincere and, ultimately, correct.

There was a period of time which culminated in most people ceasing to expect much from Dele when he got the ball, except for frustration at him failing to complete a pass or trick. If he gets out of that rut, fantastic. But I'd lost faith that it could be for Spurs.

 

[DubSpur]

I think Mourinho’s problem with Dele started after he called out what we could all see in front of the Amazon cameras…. That we were playing brick long ball football. I don’t think Mourinho liked Dele embarrassing him like that and his card was then marked. Blaming Dele for the goal we conceded against Stoke just confirmed that for me.

Blaming Dele for that goal was ridiculous. He lost the ball but there were a number of passes, including back to the goalkeeper, before the eventual goal.
The defence had loads of time to reset and the blame lays with them, not Dele, for that goal. I doubt any other forward on the team would've been treated the same.
Moura continuously runs into defenders and loses the ball but I don't recall one word from Mourinho about that.

 

[thfcsteff]

I think Mourinho also had a motive with Dele…. He knew transfer and wage funds were tight, knew he needed new players and wanted to sell one of the players who might still command a reasonable transfer fee but didn’t fit his system. He was therefore trying to push Dele out of the door. The story was that the chairman stepped in and wouldn’t allow Dele to leave, which I think is very wrong and one of the (many) reasons why I was so happy to see us bring in a DoF (I think our last two transfer windows would’ve been carnage otherwise).

The only grace I could give Levy there is that he also loved Dele and naively thought if he didn't leave, JM would have to use him. It was naive if it is the case. And I agree, the DoF probably saved the lad.

 

[thfcsteff]

Can't his waste of space get off the main page and go to general. He is not a spurs player.

My advice mate is don't click the thread with his name on it unless you're trolling for some sploshing.

 

[thfcsteff]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

I have to say this is probably the fairest appraisal of all (albeit my bias doesn't allow me to agree with all of it), nice one.

 

[Legohamster]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

think that is pretty spot on, I would add injuries to that as well.


He’s really good friends with Maddison it seems?

He should have a proper sit down with him and ask him how he turned it around as he was heading the same way.

 

[Lemonade Money]

Can't his waste of space get off the main page and go to general. He is not a spurs player.

Bad day?

 

[elyid]

Can't his waste of space get off the main page and go to general. He is not a spurs player.

tbf I don't disagree... the boy checked out years ago.

 

[tynesidespur]

If you look at some of Mourinho's early victories Dele was heavily involved. His opening game against West Ham was still the bright, bubbly Dele Alli. Involved, a piece of magic to send Son away to cross for Moura, balls in behind to Son & Kane.

I don't think its entirely down to Mourinho but he played a massive part in accelerating the downturn. The team had not been playing well for a good 12 months bar those CL nights. That includes the likes of Son who got sent off at Bournemouth and nearly cost us 4th place, Harry who was suffering with ankle njuries and Eriksen whose form had dipped in 2019 and completely nosedived up to his departure that season. There were obviously issues in midfield that had been papered over for 12-18 months but the replacements Ndombele & Lo Celso didn't settle immediately and have proven inadequate subsequently.

For me he was still one of the club's star players prior to the covid shutdown and Mourinho seemed to take the chance to ship him out as soon as he could. Was he right? Maybe but even that opening day against Everton when he was hooked at HT, Dele had 2 good chances where he should've scored, second half we created absolutely nothing. Why take someone off who is clearly a goal threat? I just feel that from that point onwards he had the life sucked out of him and his confidence hit rock bottom since any mistake was pounced upon by the manager.

Dele had his faults - he had them back in 16/17 and I will say that Mourinho was bang on about that. He was a "moments" player, he could disappear for 80 mins but then pop up with a late equaliser or winner because he kept making those runs. Poch accepted that and maybe we had enough insurance behind to allow for that. But while he was right Mourinho seemed to forget he wasn't at the top of the tree in football. You only discard and ostracise a talented "moments" player like Dele if you have something better to back it up. And frankly, we didn't. We played Ndombele at #10 because he didn't have the fitness or the will to run in central midfield which should have been his position all along. Other options? Run all day Lucas Moura who has premium effort but limited output (certainly under Mourinho) and Lo Celso and after 3 years i still can't work out what exactly he did offer.

For me this didn't need to happen. Dele wasn't perfect, but he was easily good enough for where we were and where we are ever likely to be. But by the end he was a shell of a player who we fleetingly saw come out against Liverpool. I still think Conte should have persisted and "fixed" him. But the manager has earned the right to make the changes he desires.

I only hope he gets his confidence back at Everton and is played in a role that suits. Totally agree with those saying his workrate never dipped on the pitch. Best of luck to him.

 

[tynesidespur]

The only grace I could give Levy there is that he also loved Dele and naively thought if he didn't leave, JM would have to use him. It was naive if it is the case. And I agree, the DoF probably saved the lad.

I remember at the time thinking if there was a choice between JM and Dele, Dele wins everytime. Little did I know the long-term damage done.

 

[metalgear]

Sorry mate, you’ll be surprised to read that I’m not having that. You can see that Poch employed a different system to Mourinho/Nuno/Conte?

Mourinho also loooooooves to think he can ‘break’ a personality, he’s always tried it everywhere he’s been, and he fudged unnecessarily with Dele in a way that severely set him back. I’ll argue this til forever, no worries. You mentioned ‘if Conte was there instead’…he has been. And despite the fact he concluded Dele was not a part of his system (this despite a fine display against Liverpool) Conte behaved with class and tact, keeping his thoughts internal and allowing the player some dignity. In fact, the way Conte, Paratici and Levy have dealt with Dele since Paratici’s arrival has been top-drawer and somewhat untypical of how we tend to treat players who are no longer either performing for us or simply in need of a fresh start.

Hope all is well (I don’t wish to come across as rude) but I do feel strident on this stuff.

No issues taken and I can see your point of view. Thanks for explaining, though I have no love for guys who have talent and don't have the discipline to apply themselves. Dele did well for us and i bear no grudge against him except that I feel we should have been more ruthless and sold him after a season of non-performance when his stock was still highly perceived. So whoever kept him should be responsible for the creeping complacency that set in... somehow we became a club where players could drift on reputation.

Mourinho is distasteful but did his job - I share the same view of having little patience for teeing the corporate line in professional sports. This is not real life, have you seen how much footballers earn. If Dele can't let's get on wtih the next player quickly. I can understand how fans get sentimental with Dele but then why stop at Dele, what about the other underperforming players? And how do you win things consistently when you play favourites.

 

[Jurgen the German]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

Good analysis. Wonderful player on his day. His decline started when Poch was still here. Like you said, Kane, Eriksen and Son all maintained a high level throughout their time here. Alli seems to rely on others and hasn’t really improved most aspects of his game. He still has that knack of being in the right place at the right time but he relies on instinct a little to much IMO and his overall play just hasn’t improved. Most importantly decision making.

 

[parklane1]

My take.

For those peak Poch years Dele was one of my favourites, an instinctive player with no little amount of skill and passion for the shirt. His decline from 2018 onwards has been startling but went hand in hand with that of the team. Though it is worth noting that his 3 partners in crime, Kane, Son and Eriksen did generally maintain their level of performance, whilst he did not. He morphed into the most frustrating player I can remember at Spurs in years.

I don't agree with the narrative that he lost his desire, was more interested in tiktok and was just going through the motions. I always felt he was trying, although maybe he did become a touch complacent in Poch's final 18 months as he would always be selected regardless of form.

I also don't buy the other easy narrative that Mourinho (taco that he is) ruined him. Jose saw an underperforming star player and tried the only technique he knows. Tough love. It didn't work but he had to try something because Dele's career was stalling at that point. To me his form since then has been no better or worse than before Mourinho turned up.

For me, it's just that he seemed to stop doing even the basics right and when the ball came his way 9 times out of 10 he would either flick it nobody or slowly dribble into a defender or two who would take the ball off of him with the minimum of fuss. He became the rocks on which too many of our attacks floundered.

It is a great shame and a bit of a mystery as he had the footballing World at his feet, but as others have said, even peak Dele would struggle to have a role to play in Conte's preferred system. So it's right that he has been allowed to leave to try to reboot his career at Everton.

Will he suceed?...who knows, but I wish him luck.

Best post since he left and sums it up nicely for me, Alli was great for us for a few years but has declined rapidly since the end of Poch era. Like others the blaming of Jose is a bit over the top as well ( he had failed to put in good performance for a while even before Jose came here)and shows the agenda some had against him from the moment he signed. The main reason that his form for fell of the cliff may have a few reasons but the main one falls at Alli's feet imo.

However i want to say thank you Alli for giving me so many highs while watching you play for Spurs and wish you all the best going forward.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

My advice mate is don't click the thread with his name on it unless you're trolling for some sploshing.

Well I am.

But also this waste of space does not play for us anymore so get him off the spurs page and in general. I don't know what I am fcuking pay you guys for but it is not this.

Up your game ladies, I'm not angry just very disappointed.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Bad day?

Suck my balls while you finger my botty then we shall see who is having a bad day.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Best post since he left and sums it up nicely for me, Alli was great for us for a few years but has declined rapidly since the end of Poch era. Like others the blaming of Jose is a bit over the top as well ( he had failed to put in good performance for a while even before Jose came here)and shows the agenda some had against him from the moment he signed. The main reason that his form for fell of the cliff may have a few reasons but the main one falls at Alli's feet imo.

However i want to say thank you Alli for giving me so many highs while watching you play for Spurs and wish you all the best going forward.

Actually I would say that Dele's performances for Jose started off very good.... We then lost both Kane and Son to injury, the chairman didn't get Jose another centre forward as he demanded in January so Jose bunged Dele up front as the closest thing we had to a number 9 (though he wasn't close at all). Dele then made the 'brick long ball team' comments in the Amazon documentary and I think his card was then marked with Mourinho who seemed to hold a grudge.