Dele Alli at Everton

[bat-chain]

Best post of the day. For me Dele has not progressed from his early promise. Whether this is down to fitness, mindset or ability is a conundrum. Apart from his odd moments of brilliance I cannot remember many of those flicks and tricks ever creating a significant goal scoring opportunity in the last few seasons. Personally I would sell him before Lamela. Only problem is who would take him in the Prem? None of the top six. And if one team did would they meet Levy's transfer value demands?

I seem to remember a couple of good ones on a night in Amsterdam.

 

[cider spurs]

I don't envy Mourinho trying to come up with a system that works and incorporates Dele tbh. For my money, he was best when he played on the left and at that time Son started most games on the bench. Son has now made that spot his own and Dele has struggled to replicate that form. I don't think he's a 10 in the sense of creating chances with clever passes, and I think he's too careless in possession to play further back. His inclusion in the team invariably leaves us weakened in CM, usually playing a CM2 who struggle to get ant control.

The only place that's really up for grabs is wide right, but Bergwijn has done well there and Jose loves Moura for his effort and work ethic. I struggle to see where Dele fits in other than a wild card off the bench (or possibly rotating with Son) but I can't see him being happy with that. If a really big offer came in I'd be very tempted to cash in but I'm sure plenty would disagree. I'd be intrigued to know where they think he'd fit in though.

I think you've answered your intrigue.

Looking at the amount of games coming this season, I reckon he should be rotating with Son. Drifting inside with late runs and linking with Kane like he used to.

Whilst both Son and Alli maybe somewhat pissed off regarding rotation, Is it wrong to believe Mourinho wants a squad coherent for the same cause, starting berth or not.

He'll want everyone ready to battle as a squad, not just a best 11-14 players. This is something maybe some won't like, but I bet Mourinho will have a damn good go at instilling this belief into all those selected in the squad.

 

[Japhet]

I think you've answered your intrigue.

Looking at the amount of games coming this season, I reckon he should be rotating with Son. Drifting inside with late runs and linking with Kane like he used to.

Whilst both Son and Alli maybe somewhat pissed off regarding rotation, Is it wrong to believe Mourinho wants a squad coherent for the same cause, starting berth or not.

He'll want everyone ready to battle as a squad, not just a best 11-14 players. This is something maybe some won't like, but I bet Mourinho will have a damn good go at instilling this belief into all those selected in the squad.

Would be great if Mourinho could instill that sort of 'squad' mentality as opposed to 1st XI + subs. That's how the really successful clubs operate and keep everybody fresh and sharp.

 

[cider spurs]

Going to also add.

Read somewhere that Alli had actually been playing without truly getting over his muscle strains/injuries from these past two seasons.

If true, that surely must've hampered him.

 

[delawarespur]

As frustrating as he can be, I can’t believe ppl want to sell. Only way I’d sell is if we get 70-80 odd mil. Kai havertz is probs going to chelsea for 80-90 mil. Now I see them as very similar players. Both of their best attributes are goal scoring imo. Note he’s 3 yrs younger than dele, but he’s coming from Germany, so we don’t know if he will succeed in England, though I think he will. Havertz has 18 goals and 8 assists in all comps. Dele has 9 and 5. BUT, havertz as played more than 1000 more minutes than dele this season. That’s 11-12 more matches worth. He’s also picked up 7 goals playing as a no 9 following kevin volland’s injury. Roughly 1/3 of his goals came after lockdown. Dele played 90 mins total after lockdown. Yes, dele is more injury prone, but he’s started whenever he has been able to in the most intense and demanding league in the world. Now, would I swap dele for havertz? Yes. But the only difference between the two is age, havertz’ slightly superior passing/vision, and havertz’ ability with both feet. Dele is much better defensively and pressing from the front. I watched a lot of the Bundesliga restart, and havertz, like dele, glides rather slowly across the pitch. He’s nonchalant like dele. He sometimes dallies on the ball like dele. He loses the ball unnecessarily like dele. He scores goals out of nothing like dele. He changes matches like dele. We have next to no goals from midfield without dele. Havertz was nonexistent against inter in the Europa league, but he popped up with a goal. That is dele! If we lose him, we have only Kane and son as reliable goal scorers. Thats 2 players. City have 6. United 4, Liverpool 3 (you could even count VVD), chelsea will have 3 or 4 next season. These are the teams we are trying to catch. Some may say we played our best football without dele. Why do so many ppl want to keep ndombele so badly? I’m not saying sell tanguy, but he played no part in our best runs of the season (the first couple of games under Jose and after lockdown). I personally think those first 8 or so matches under Jose were our best performances. Dele was on fire. I see no point in selling dele. Even if we can get a replacement, we already have homegrown issues. He’s had a “poor” season yet has outperformed the revelation that is James Maddison in terms of attacking output. If he even slightly rebounds after a full preseason under Jose, were saying 20 goal contributions in all comps. I don’t ever see 15/16 and 16/17 dele returning, but that could happen. Even if he doesn’t, his skill set is such a unique and important that one that we have to keep him.

 

[tooey]

As frustrating as he can be, I can’t believe ppl want to sell. Only way I’d sell is if we get 70-80 odd mil. Kai havertz is probs going to chelsea for 80-90 mil. Now I see them as very similar players. Both of their best attributes are goal scoring imo. Note he’s 3 yrs younger than dele, but he’s coming from Germany, so we don’t know if he will succeed in England, though I think he will. Havertz has 18 goals and 8 assists in all comps. Dele has 9 and 5. BUT, havertz as played more than 1000 more minutes than dele this season. That’s 11-12 more matches worth. He’s also picked up 7 goals playing as a no 9 following kevin volland’s injury. Roughly 1/3 of his goals came after lockdown. Dele played 90 mins total after lockdown. Yes, dele is more injury prone, but he’s started whenever he has been able to in the most intense and demanding league in the world. Now, would I swap dele for havertz? Yes. But the only difference between the two is age, havertz’ slightly superior passing/vision, and havertz’ ability with both feet. Dele is much better defensively and pressing from the front. I watched a lot of the Bundesliga restart, and havertz, like dele, glides rather slowly across the pitch. He’s nonchalant like dele. He sometimes dallies on the ball like dele. He loses the ball unnecessarily like dele. He scores goals out of nothing like dele. He changes matches like dele. We have next to no goals from midfield like dele. Havertz was nonexistent against inter in the Europa league, but he popped up with a goal. That is dele! If we lose him, we have only Kane and son as reliable goal scorers. Thats 2 players. City have 6. United 4, Liverpool 3 (you could even count VVD), chelsea will have 3 or 4 next season. These are the teams we are trying to catch. Some may say we played our best football without dele. Why do so many ppl want to keep ndombele so badly? I’m not saying sell tanguy, but he played no part in our best runs of the season. The first couple of games under Jose and after lockdown. I personally think those first 8 or so matches under Jose were our best performances. Dele was on fire. I see no point in selling dele. Even if we can get a replacement, we already have homegrown issues. He’s had a “poor” season yet has outperformed the revelation that is James Maddison in terms of attacking output. If he even slightly rebounds after a full preseason under Jose, were saying 20 goal contributions in all comps. I don’t ever see 15/16 and 16/17 dele returning, but that could happen. Even if he doesn’t, his skill set is such a unique and important that one that we have to keep him.

Having watched a fair bit of both I can tell you that Havertz is miles ahead of Dele in almost every aspect and as you say, is 3 years Dele's junior. Does that mean we should sell Dele? Not for me. He can play as a 10, out wide and further back as a CM at a push. Plus the money we'd expect is probably miles away from what anyone would pay.

 

[delawarespur]

Having watched a fair bit of both I can tell you that Havertz is miles ahead of Dele in almost every aspect and as you say, is 3 years Dele's junior. Does that mean we should sell Dele? Not for me. He can play as a 10, out wide and further back as a CM at a push. Plus the money we'd expect is probably miles away from what anyone would pay.

In general play, havertz is clearly ahead. He has vision and ball retention that dele lacks. He’s a playmaker in a different class to dele. But I actually think dele’s attacking and goal scoring instincts are superior. Havertz’ goal numbers are inflated due to playing up front some this season. And replacing him is much more than what we would get from selling him. We’d have no goal scoring from midfield unless we see a return to Betis numbers for gio. Lucas or Stevie (I think Stevie will with more minutes, Lucas I’m skeptical) would have to up their numbers, or Kane has to stay fit for the whole season.

 

[ikky]

If we get a decent offer I think we should cash in. He’s been poor for a while but when Jose first came in I thought he may have turned it around, but that didn’t last long. I also don’t see where he fits in our team and Jose’s way of playing.
As I posted in the Winks thread, it’s time to let go of some of those players that have been with us for many years and are part of the reason why we haven’t won anything for ages.

 

[gibbospurs]

Unfortunately for Dele, I think his off field businesses have taken his eye off his football. He has his property firm & also his promotions business that will take up some of his time. Yes he will most likely have managers who work for him but he still has significant other business interests outside of his football.

I can imagine it would be hard to maintain that same level of focus on the football if you also have these other things going on. I dont buy the playboy lifestyle thing that the media portray, as I think he is just a young lad enjoying his money. However, I think his fall from lofty heights is due to his other ventures.

You seriously think he puts a great deal of time into these things? Doubtful, his step dad is a successful builder and runs a big set up in mk. its the money and paying people you trust.

 

[Yiddo21]

Going to also add.

Read somewhere that Alli had actually been playing without truly getting over his muscle strains/injuries from these past two seasons.

If true, that surely must've hampered him.

What hampers him is still having the body of a teenager as an adult. His physique is embarassing.

A bit more time in the gym instead of fannying around on Insta would help. He needs to be toughened up physically and mentally or his career at the highest level is finished.

 

[Danny1]

You seriously think he puts a great deal of time into these things? Doubtful, his step dad is a successful builder and runs a big set up in mk. its the money and paying people you trust.

Honest answer is I don’t know. He might do, he might not. All I was trying to do is come up with a possible reason as to why he isn’t the player he was.

None of us know for sure how much time he does or doesn’t put into his other business ventures.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

It's kind of hilarious on this site at the mo. Feels like if we took a straw poll tomorrow, certain people would want to flog off our whole squad, which is fucking ridiculous.

 

[Gbspurs]

Dele has something that alot of players will never have and that's the "spark". I know it's cliche but those sort of players can be hard to come by. If Jose can find a way to get the best out of Dele we have a fantastic player on our hands.

 

[cliff jones]

Dele is a shadow striker not a wide man, or a deeper lying midfielder- although he may be able to do a job floating between a 10 and an 8.

Assuming PEHjoins Winks in CM, this means Dele is battling GLC for a place. If he does well, he’ll get games but if he plays poorly like he has for a while now then he’ll play the cups at most, and otherwise be an impact sub.

We‘ll never know whether he didn’t train hard, lost a yard or was just unlucky with injuries.

 

[AberdeenYid]

Been mainly dogshit for at least two years now. But during this whole period, I’ve been saying he should be given another chance, that he’ll come good again. My patience has ran out though. And if we could get a large fee for him (£80m plus) we should sell.

But we won’t get that from anyone. Pretty sure it’d be Everton, Newcastle and Villa trying to sign him for £25m off the back of the majority of his performances in the last couple of years.

Taking that into account, he has to stay as there’s still a chance he can recapture what he was great at. How he has never turned into our version of Lampard, arriving late in the box, progressive passer, great goal return, is absolutely beyond me. Maybe Mourinho is the man to get this out of him. I do hope so.

 

[TPdYID]

What hampers him is still having the body of a teenager as an adult. His physique is embarassing.

A bit more time in the gym instead of fannying around on Insta would help. He needs to be toughened up physically and mentally or his career at the highest level is finished.

Complete and utter nonsense.
He almost has the perfect build. He’s talk, lean and wirey. His height makes it easier to out-jump those shorter, his lean physique allows him to cover 11+ k a game. (I’m sure there’s a stat out there from this season suggesting when played DA is one of our furthest runners).

The wirey nature of DA gate and shoulders also makes him a real handful when protecting the ball, backing in, shielding and jostling.

Adama Traore is a freak of nature and his build is a one off. Most top flight footballers are now very lean with minimal fat and muscle.

 

[ultimateloner]

He is a decent player in his own right. He will make a difference in the final third if we see enough of the ball. I think we should keep him; he is someone who could unlock a defense that's parking the bus.

The problem is I dont think we as a team suit him. We are now playing pure counter-attack so attackers need to be able to play on their own. Dele's game depends on teams mates finding him in space; so it presumes that we are playing on the front-foot and taking the initiative. This is not how we play now.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Complete and utter nonsense.
He almost has the perfect build. He’s talk, lean and wirey. His height makes it easier to out-jump those shorter, his lean physique allows him to cover 11+ k a game. (I’m sure there’s a stat out there from this season suggesting when played DA is one of our furthest runners).

The wirey nature of DA gate and shoulders also makes him a real handful when protecting the ball, backing in, shielding and jostling.

Adama Traore is a freak of nature and his build is a one off. Most top flight footballers are now very lean with minimal fat and muscle.

I would love to have that body when I was a teenager! But I actually never knew anyone who does back then!!

 

[JimmyG2]

He is a decent player in his own right. He will make a difference in the final third if we see enough of the ball. I think we should keep him; he is someone who could unlock a defense that's parking the bus.

The problem is I dont think we as a team suit him. We are now playing pure counter-attack so attackers need to be able to play on their own. Dele's game depends on teams mates finding him in space; so it presumes that we are playing on the front-foot and taking the initiative. This is not how we play now.

I don't think we will play
in exactly the same way every time
but even so he will give us flexibility
and provide the unexpected.

Assuming he finds some form
to supplement his class.

 

[Who’s our next manager?]

Complete and utter nonsense.
He almost has the perfect build. He’s talk, lean and wirey. His height makes it easier to out-jump those shorter, his lean physique allows him to cover 11+ k a game. (I’m sure there’s a stat out there from this season suggesting when played DA is one of our furthest runners).

The wirey nature of DA gate and shoulders also makes him a real handful when protecting the ball, backing in, shielding and jostling.

Adama Traore is a freak of nature and his build is a one off. Most top flight footballers are now very lean with minimal fat and muscle.

Do you really mean that he’s tall, mean and wired?