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Dele Alli

Bullet said:
You lot have some real problems with reading and comprehension. Steff said Alli had the GUILE of Maradona (IIRC). Not the skill, not the power, not the haircut, the GUILE.
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I can read. I just don't think it's sensible yet to say Alli can compete with Maradona in anything whatsoever other than maybe the condition of his nostrils.
 
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In terms of the "what position does he play?" debate, I'd say he is in the same mould as David Platt.

He's probably better already than Platt was, and Platt had a decent career, being one of the few English players with the courage to try their luck abroad.
 
Pirate55 said:
I would certainly have Alli more than Bentelab!!!! I always said he had fantastic potential and he in undoubtedly beginning to fulfill it. However, your description (as is your won't) is a tad OTT even for you, don't you think? I hope he carries on fulfilling his extraordinary potential but he is still learning and has a long way to go before he can be compared to career greats like Maradona, Lampard, Gascoigne, Gerrard etc. He is certainly on the right track though.
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See, this is why I probably shouldn't bother writing stuff. You would need to read what I said in its proper context. I said he had elements of all those players in his make up, and I firmly, firmly stand by that. Who said he was comparable to them right now directly? It is a problem today though, that when something is written it appears to often be read without detail. Oh well. I will try again; for me, the boy has the silk and movement of Hoddle, the guile of a Maradona, the engine of a Gerrard and the striking abilities of a Lampard. He has it all. Undeniable fact, being proven for the second season in a row. Where he goes with it we shall see, but right now he has all those elements in his game...


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SUIYHA said:
I have been one of Alli's biggest champions since the Real Madrid pre-season game in 2015. I had him in my Fantasy Football team from the start of that season and whilst all the "experts" were saying it was too early when he had his first England call-up I already knew he should be first choice for club and country. But if you compare anyone in our squad to Diego Maradona then you deserve all the ridicule you get.

It's weird, because before this recent purple patch I'd say that Alli was actually having a pretty bad season. But other than the Man Utd game where he was terrible, he's massively improved since Swansea.

I think what's really helped his goalscoring recently is that teams don't know what position he's playing in. He's technically a midfielder but in other games he's practically been a number 10 playing off Kane. Last night he was a wing forward. That kind of unpredictability as well as the way he times his runs well to find space in front of goal has meant that defences are really struggling to deal with him at the moment.

After scoring this many goals including in such a high profile game, teams are not going to be thinking of him as a young player any more. He is a major threat and people will be building their game plans around him. And that is where we find if he's destined to become as good as Muller or Lampard, or just another overhyped youngster who peaks at 20 years old. I remember a similar tossfest over Aaron Lennon at a similar age when he scored the winner against Chelsea too so his progression is by no means guaranteed.

His song is really starting to grow on me now though! I hated it at first because it was a) annoyingly repetitive, b) had already been rinsed to death by Arsenal and West Ham and c) replaced the far better hokey-cokey one, but belting it out at the Lane yesterday was brilliant.
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You DO know what the word 'guile' means, and in this case, infers, right?
Ridicule me 'deservedly' only when you have a full comprehensive grasp of what I have written.


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By the way, I saw Maradona live twice, and again, few players have GUILE like he had...Alli has! In fact, to the extent that some of our supporters whinge about it on occasion. Ronaldo is another who has it...


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thfcsteff said:
See, this is why I probably shouldn't bother writing stuff. You would need to read what I said in its proper context. I said he had elements of all those players in his make up, and I firmly, firmly stand by that. Who said he was comparable to them right now directly? It is a problem today though, that when something is written it appears to often be read without detail. Oh well. I will try again; for me, the boy has the silk and movement of Hoddle, the guile of a Maradona, the engine of a Gerrard and the striking abilities of a Lampard. He has it all. Undeniable fact, being proven for the second season in a row. Where he goes with it we shall see, but right now he has all those elements in his game...


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
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Sorry Steff, but he'll never be a complete player. He doesn't have the eyes of Kranjcar, the brooding sexuality of Berbs or flowing Gallic mane of Ginola


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thfcsteff said:
See, this is why I probably shouldn't bother writing stuff. You would need to read what I said in its proper context. I said he had elements of all those players in his make up, and I firmly, firmly stand by that. Who said he was comparable to them right now directly? It is a problem today though, that when something is written it appears to often be read without detail. Oh well. I will try again; for me, the boy has the silk and movement of Hoddle, the guile of a Maradona, the engine of a Gerrard and the striking abilities of a Lampard. He has it all. Undeniable fact, being proven for the second season in a row. Where he goes with it we shall see, but right now he has all those elements in his game...


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
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Fair enough. But your description of 'elements' can then be used as a description to ascribe many such parts to virtually any top class footballer. It is how all these elements combine into the whole package that is ultimately key.
 
Pirate55 said:
Fair enough. But your description of 'elements' can then be used as a description to ascribe many such parts to virtually any top class footballer. It is how all these elements combine into the whole package that is ultimately key.
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Errr...if you can ascribe the exact elements I used to refer to Alli for any other comparable young player right now, I would like to read who.


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Alli has been in excellent goal scoring form lately. But it is easy to forget that it was Alli's moment of stupidity against WBA which got him 3 match ban and destroyed our league title chances last season. Good to see him controlling his temper since then.
 
Spurs7891 said:
Alli has been in excellent goal scoring form lately. But it is easy to forget that it was Alli's moment of stupidity against WBA which got him 3 match ban and destroyed our league title chances last season. Good to see him controlling his temper since then.
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Wow... pin it on one player why don't you

I'd add that his moment of stupidity is exactly what Zlatan did vs palace a few weeks back and got away with it...
 
Spurs7891 said:
Alli has been in excellent goal scoring form lately. But it is easy to forget that it was Alli's moment of stupidity against WBA which got him 3 match ban and destroyed our league title chances last season. Good to see him controlling his temper since then.
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So it wasn't a loss and 3 draws at the start of the seasonthat lost us the title it was one player's "stupidity" that was the reason, hell some people can be severely blinkered.
 
thfcsteff said:
Errr...if you can ascribe the exact elements I used to refer to Alli for any other comparable young player right now, I would like to read who.


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Errr... straw man! I never said EXACT elements. To illustrate my point. I could say Lloris has the agility of Bonetti, the shot stopping of Buffon, the reactions of Banks, and the distribution of Sprake !!!!!, or Kane has the shooting power in both feet of Shearer, the guile of Gilzean, the pace and imagination of Sherringham and the goal scoring instincts of Greaves.
 
Pirate55 said:
Errr... straw man! I never said EXACT elements. To illustrate my point. I could say Lloris has the agility of Bonetti, the shot stopping of Buffon, the reactions of Banks, and the distribution of Sprake !!!!!, or Kane has the shooting power in both feet of Shearer, the guile of Gilzean, the pace and imagination of Sherringham and the goal scoring instincts of Greaves.
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The charming smile of D-Beck...


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SUIYHA said:
I can read. I just don't think it's sensible yet to say Alli can compete with Maradona in anything whatsoever other than maybe the condition of his nostrils.
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Having guile like that is not a matter of 'competing', it is a personality trait. The boy nutmegs people for fun all the time, draws decisions, has some spike and gets slated by some (including our fans) for all of the above. Again, I have not seen many players at all with that guile. Ronaldo...Maradona...are there others? As for the condition of his nostrils, are you going for a cheap party gag there? In which case you know something I do not.
 
Pirate55 said:
Errr... straw man! I never said EXACT elements. To illustrate my point. I could say Lloris has the agility of Bonetti, the shot stopping of Buffon, the reactions of Banks, and the distribution of Sprake !!!!!, or Kane has the shooting power in both feet of Shearer, the guile of Gilzean, the pace and imagination of Sherringham and the goal scoring instincts of Greaves.
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Right. And what is wrong with making statements like that if you believe them, and more importantly, if they bear scrutiny? Nothing. When it comes to kane, I compared him to Sheringham a few years back after his first pre-season with Poch (before then I had wondered what kind of player he was). 'The guile of Gillian'? Gill never worked a decision out of a ref or gave opponents any aggro, he was not exactly a fiery character, in fact he was smooth, cool, almost insouciant (Berba had a lot of Gilly about him) so I wouldn't give you that, no.

Once again, I think Alli has ALL the qualities I mentioned and I believe he can go on to become one of the world's top midfielders. If you and others find that hyperbolic, then fantastic. My final word? People need to watch more carefully. The guy has been getting into scoring positions all season; his finishing was woeful early season, but his ability to find the spaces still as excellent as ever (this despite losing two players around him who are vital to his game). Class is permanent and he has bundles of it.
 
I can't remember this, but my dad and brother reckon Alli bottled a header in the Hull game and was subbed shortly afterwards. Since then he's come back scoring headers, maybe Poch made him do some extra work on it!
 
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