Player Watch: Dele Alli

[southlondonyiddo]

Just imagine how good we'll be when he starts playing well

Cannot wait

 

[nicdic]

I think people are forgetting what his role in the team is. He's there to find space and make things happen which he's doing. He's not there to manage the game or dictate the tempo for us. He's a second striker and should be judged as so.

 

[E17yid]

The same devoids came out this time last year saying Eriksen should be dropped. There's no talking to some people.

Alli is having a bit of a dip in form but players that are as good as him get themselves out of it pretty quickly.

 

[ardiles]

Every player goes through good and bad form during their playing career.

We've seen Dele playing much better than what his current form shows, but yet he's still contributing with the goals and assists. Nothing to get worried about. You will see the same old player back soon.

 

[tiger666]

face it, his head's turned, i can feel it, next season he wont be here no longer

 

[Bulletspur]

Nothing about Dele's game has changed. What has changed is people are finally seeing him for what he is. He is good, tenacious and a match winner. But I have always said he was over hyped from the last two seasons or so and his deficiencies then were ignored by fans and media alike.

 

[coys200]

Nothing about Dele's game has changed. What has changed is people are finally seeing him for what he is. He is good, tenacious and a match winner. But I have always said he was over hyped from the last two seasons or so and his deficiencies then were ignored by fans and media alike.

Spot on tbh .I always said to people ,take away the goals and he'd start getting alot of stick.Seems a daft comment but you know what I mean.He's quite a weird player tbh can't think of anyone else to compare him to.He's not an obvious midfielder like a Gerrard lampard nor a silky 10 like a silva or hazard and not a striker.But you can't argue with his stats.,it may not always be pretty on the eye but there's no doubt he is effective.

 

[coys200]

Would love to see the stats ,but reckon he scores more tap ins than Kane.Can only remember 2 outside the box .The palace Wonder goal and the curler against Watford.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Nothing about Dele's game has changed. What has changed is people are finally seeing him for what he is. He is good, tenacious and a match winner. But I have always said he was over hyped from the last two seasons or so and his deficiencies then were ignored by fans and media alike.

No idea how he can be called over hyped when by the same age none of Gerrard, Lampard or Beckham had produced anywhere near as much as he has and they are considered three of the great midfielders of the modern era. What he has done by the age of 21 is nothing short of phenomenal, and this is even before you consider that he was playing in League 1 until we signed him, those players were all honed in top premier league academies with reputations for producing top class players by the bucketload.

Dele has deficiencies, he often over plays, makes poor decisions, he lets the press down a fair bit and he can be petulant. These are mental things which almost always improve dramatically by a player's mid twenties. What he does have is incredible athleticism, brilliant reading of a developing attack and both the skill and imagination to occasionally pull off the spectacular. All of this, combined with his consistent contribution even when off form (as is the case right now) means that he fully justifies every bit of hype he is receiving. It is amazing that anybody can't see this. Thankfully, our manager can.

 

[coys200]

No idea how he can be called over hyped when by the same age none of Gerrard, Lampard or Beckham had produced anywhere near as much as he has and they are considered three of the great midfielders of the modern era. What he has done by the age of 21 is nothing short of phenomenal, and this is even before you consider that he was playing in League 1 until we signed him, those players were all honed in top premier league academies with reputations for producing top class players by the bucketload.

Dele has deficiencies, he often over plays, makes poor decisions, he lets the press down a fair bit and he can be petulant. These are mental things which almost always improve dramatically by a player's mid twenties. What he does have is incredible athleticism, brilliant reading of a developing attack and both the skill and imagination to occasionally pull off the spectacular. All of this, combined with his consistent contribution even when off form (as is the case right now) means that he fully justifies every bit of hype he is receiving. It is amazing that anybody can't see this. Thankfully, our manager can.

Just watched his 16/17 22 goals.21 are inside the area and virtual tap ins.He is not a midfielder or at least doesn't play for us like a midfielder.He is most definitely a 2nd striker.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Would love to see the stats ,but reckon he scores more tap ins than Kane.Can only remember 2 outside the box .The palace Wonder goal and the curler against Watford.

Just watched his 16/17 22 goals.21 are inside the area and virtual tap ins.He is not a midfielder or at least doesn't play for us like a midfielder.He is most definitely a 2nd striker.

If moving in such a way that you're there to finish off a good passing move, or able to head in a cross into the box (something he did a fair few times last season) is a tap in, then yes he scores loads. Considering he's not our main goalscorer surely this is something to celebrate, not use a stick against him?

The guy isn't, and never will be, Iniesta. We have players like Eriksen, Dembele Lamela and hopefully one day Winks and Edwards for the more subtle arts. What Dele does is what Lampard did his entire career, what Luis Enrique excelled at despite not being your typical 'Barca' midfielder, what Guti and Lucho Gonzalez made their names for, he scores goals, he scores lots of goals and he scores important goals. And he does it despite being marked as if he was Messi half the time.

And yes, your comment 'take away the goals and he'd get stick' is daft, it's fucking daft. And only a fucking daft person would say it. Might as well say the same about Son and Kane. You know what happens if we take away all three of those players goals away last season? We don't finish second, we fight relegation. You're acting as if what he does for the team isn't fucking valuable, it is. It's vital, it's necessary, and if we took him out of the team we'd have to replace those goals with a player who could produce at the same rate.

The boy is not immune from criticism, I am fully away that he's not playing well right now and that he's making poor decisions, but give the boy some leeway for fuck sake, he has earned it with two seasons of performing not just beyond expectations, but beyond the levels on show from pretty much every other player in his position in the league including those signed for grossly inflated amounts.

I keep coming back and editing this post to add more because I find your comment unbelievable. The boy may deserve a bit of criticism but the 'tap ins' comment is banal, you make it sound as if those are easy goals. Where the two headers v Chelsea easy because they were inside the box? Or how about the goal to pull back away v City in the 2-2 when we were 2-0 down? Could you have scored them maybe? Jesus!

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

For all his short comings the boy is absolutely mustard. And i for one am glad he plays for us and not against us.

 

[muppetman]

I wonder if the other teams have a "Let's all laugh at Spurs" thread - if so the quotes from this thread must feature pretty highly I'd think!

 

[Hercules]

slagoffdeleallibrigadeheisoverated.com

 

[Vincent30]

He's a kid, he has dipped in form a bit, but with that he still adds something dangerous in the final third every game. We've come along way to show we are moaning about the likes of Dele when we used to have Ruel Fox.

 

[Bulletspur]

No idea how he can be called over hyped when by the same age none of Gerrard, Lampard or Beckham had produced anywhere near as much as he has and they are considered three of the great midfielders of the modern era. What he has done by the age of 21 is nothing short of phenomenal, and this is even before you consider that he was playing in League 1 until we signed him, those players were all honed in top premier league academies with reputations for producing top class players by the bucketload.

Dele has deficiencies, he often over plays, makes poor decisions, he lets the press down a fair bit and he can be petulant. These are mental things which almost always improve dramatically by a player's mid twenties. What he does have is incredible athleticism, brilliant reading of a developing attack and both the skill and imagination to occasionally pull off the spectacular. All of this, combined with his consistent contribution even when off form (as is the case right now) means that he fully justifies every bit of hype he is receiving. It is amazing that anybody can't see this. Thankfully, our manager can.

You are arguing against your self as you are agreeing with me. It was ignoring these deficiencies why he was overhyped in my book, deficiencies which people are now starting to see or finally acknowledging

 

[ILS]

I don't think you can blame Dele Alli for any of the unnecessary hype that has been blown out of complete proportion mostly by Sky Sports. As a result most non spurs supporting football fans thinks he is world class. So far he does produce World class moments but not on a consistent basis nor should that be expected of him at this moment in his development.

Prime example the Chelsea home game last season when he scored two very good headers from two world class crosses from Eriksen. That game Wanyama was the best player on the park by a mile, which if you carried on watching the coverage after the match, Thierry Henry pointed out but Sky (Alan's Smith) gave man of the match to Dele Alli for winning us the match. Next day in the papers all about Alli. Now Im not taking away his contribution to the team over the last two seasons but at the moment he plays like a more skilfull Tim Cahill.

Can he become world class we will have to wait and see but a bit of perspective from all football fans needs to be inhaled. Due to the hype that surrounds him, Spurs fans that watch him are not buying it this season and I think why it is causing so many disputes especially on this board.

 

[Matrix]

Last few pages are absolute garbage.

We could have Messi, Coutinho, Isco and people would still moan.

If his goals and assists dry up then I'd be questioning his form but to get into the positions to effect play and possibly score and assist? I'd take that all day over a 'run around a bit' midfielder.

Just like Gerard made Torres flourish popping up and unsettling defenders, Dele has a similar effect on Kane's game IMO.

 

[Larryjanta]

Scholes said that, even when he was playing poorly, the moment he started playing within himself and not trying the difficult things, Fergie would bring him off. The best players go through peaks and troughs but they keep trying the low percentage balls because they know only a few can do them.

It's so funny people saying he should simplify his game. The worst take on the internet. He's who he is BECAUSE his game isn't simple. Anyone can play it simple, only the best can make the difficult look easy and Dele is one of the few who can.

 

[C0YS]

I don't think you can blame Dele Alli for any of the unnecessary hype that has been blow out of complete proportion mostly by Sky Sports. As a result most non spurs supporting football fans thinks he is world class. So far he does produce World class moments but not on a consistent basis nor should that be expected of him at this moment in his development.

Prime example the Chelsea Home game last season when he scored two very good headers from to World class crosses from Eriksen. That game Wanyama was the best player on the park by a mile which if you carried in watching the coverage after Thierry Henry pointed out but Sky (Alan's Smith) gave man of the match to Dele Alli for winning us the match. Next day in the papers all about Alli. Now Im not taking away his contribution to the team over the last two seasons but at the moment he plays like a more skilfull Tim Cahill.

Can he become World Class we will have to wait and see but a bit of perspective from all football fans needs to be inhaled. Due to the hype that surrounds him, Spurs fans that watch him are not buying it this season and I think why it is causing so many disputes especially on this board.

Of course they are, they always talk about goalscoring and anyone who scores two goals in a game is instantly man of the match candidate and probably deserves it. Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in football, Dele does it all the time, and he is great at missing chances as well. He has the capability of scoring a lot more.

Dele is not playing that badly at all. A lot of things arn't coming off for him but thats part of his game. Keeps trying the fluidity will come back. Fact is yesterday he was involved in all three of the goals, he was a major factor in our victory. Doing this while not playing particularly well is a sign of an incredibly special player.

Dele's most important and best attribute is movement, its his ability to find space to get a shot on and to make space for other players. He is always making these runs, keep going and he will have another good season.