Dele Alli at Everton

[Roberts84]

N'dombele, Gio, and arguably Lamela and Bale can play No. 10 better than him on current form, we have enough wingers, and he's not a CM. His transfer fee starts to look like free money to Levy.

Allis primarily problem isn't motivation or lifestyle, he simply isn't skillful enough with the ball.

Alli is great when he’s instinctive in front of goal and when passing especially in high intensity games. The little flick against Ajax in the semi for the equaliser is a perfect example or the goal against Utd last season. I think his problem is when he plays as the playmaker rather than just off Kane is that he takes too long on the ball, not knowing what pass to make and then enviably makes the wrong decision. Also when he has too much time on the ball his passing becomes sloppy which seems to be from his casualness.
With the right formation he will excel again. Unfortunately I don’t think he fits into José formation or the diamond that poch played towards the end.

 

[fortworthspur]

I have confidence that Dele is good enough to adapt and develop his game. However trying to turn him into a player who fits your very short term system is not the same as using a persons ability and making the most of it to the benefit of the squad ... and it is a squad game.

very short term indeed, Jose will almost certainly be gone by the end of next season, because he always is, and Dele will still only be 26.

 

[nicdic]

Even when in a settled team he mostly roamed and provided attacking ability. We have shifted to a 433. He doesn’t provide the defensive contributions nor passing ability to play in any of the midfield 3 and he doesn’t have the pace to be on the wings. He just doesn’t fit the “puzzle” as Jose put it.

He doesn’t seem to have a place for us right now. My saying that isn’t madness or over simplistic. The teams tactics would need to change to bring provide him with the conditions where he was his best.

I know everyone is desperate for us to play a 4-3-3, but I think it's overstating it to say we have shifted to one. We just haven't. His best for us has definitely come in a His best for us came either in a 4-2-3-1 playing centrally and free behind Kane, or in a 3-4-2-1 as part of the 2 behind Kane. He's capable of playing in either the middle three or forward three in a 4-3-3. There's no way we should be looking at getting rid of him when players like Lucas, Lamela, Sissoko, etc. remain in the squad.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Well, we've wanted some real competition for places for a long time now. Looks like Dele is the first to really feel that. Hope it turns out like we all hope and it makes Dele (and others that find themselves in this position in the future) all the better for it.

 

[H-SF]

Allis primarily problem isn't motivation or lifestyle, he simply isn't skillful enough with the ball.

Completely agree, Dele has never been a bad egg imo. This stuff about him being a lazy trainer in the doc has created a false narrative that he is a bad kid and has let off field distractions deter his game. Dele has never been supremely technical or crisp on the ball, even when he was bagging loads of goals he was still considered a moments player who didn’t contribute to games much other than his off the ball work and putting it in the net. This was fine at the time as his numbers were brilliant but now his goals/assists have dried up the rest of his game (specifically his capability on the ball) is getting far more attention. In my opinion he has never really changed drastically as a player (maybe a few physical issues have had an impact), but the circumstances around him have. No more motivated and on form Eriksen to pick him out on repeat with crosses from the right half space, being deployed deeper in Poch’s final year and teams wising up to his strength: space invading. A lot of the time raumdeuters like Dele get criticised when they aren’t putting the ball in the net as their on the ball game doesn’t stand out. In my opinion, Dele can be still be a top tier space invader/goalscorer. Yet it is disappointing that his technical game has not really matured to the extent that we may have hoped since he joined. This means he is laborious against deep blocks and it often feels like we are carrying him. It is a sacrifice at times to play Dele instead of technicians like a Ndombele and Lo Celso and it feels like we are going in a direction of which Dele and his profile is not considered an integral part. Hopefully he can develop his game and fight his way back into form and the team but I wouldn’t be surprised if he left next summer to kick start his career.

 

[slartibartfast]

Excellent post.

Just noticed you said same as me and I never even saw your post lol.

 

[Spursmatty87]

Not just a criticism of dele, but the problem has been far too many players have been far to inconsistent for far to long.

There would of been hell on here 3 years ago if we were thinking about selling him but the fact that us fans are split now says everything.

Personally I would rather see Lamela and Lucas out the door before Dele. However I can understand why others would think differently.

 

[punkisback]

Jenas was good occasionally. Showed so much promise but never became the player he should have. Side note tho, he is a brilliant pundit, which tells me he had the right football brain but never translated it on the pitch.

I think JJ never had the fire in his belly. Always amazing against arsenal, and really good attributes in all areas for a modern Footballer but he was just too timid. Great guy and really respect him.

 

[Locotoro]

Dele will need to adapt his game regardless of if he stays of goes. The type of shadow striker role he seemed to excel in under Poch seems to be rarely used at other clubs and so he will need to adapt to become a Wide Forward or a Central midfielder who gets forward.

The problem he faces is that he has some inherent flaws in his current game that prevent him from really excelling in either of those roles. He lacks the dribbling intensity (by this i mean dribbling at pace at defenders) for a wide forward role and at the moment he also releases the ball too slowly from deeper midfield roles. If he could be encouraged to pass sooner and more incisively and then use his athletism to get up and support the attack I think he would get a hatful of goals and we would have refound our world-class Dele.

 

[DiVaio]

 

[DanNolan]

Tonights team will say a lot about Dele's position and how Jose feels moving forward.

I write a blog from time to time and wrote a piece on Dele this week, always nice to have people i don't know taking a look. Appreciate it!

A Falling Star- Dele Alli

Analysis Piece On Dele’s apparent struggles, and why the team may be contributing rather than the just the individual.

sportaccordingtonolan.wordpress.com

I for one am willing a Dele goal tonight and feel if it happens we will see a team celebration

 

[Gilzean at the near post]

I'm wishing him well tonight as he has given so many good moments over the years

When he joined he was aggressive and challenged for the ball. I think we've seen less of that of late with few 50/50's won and often giving away hard earned possession with a needless flick.

When Mourinho joined he was outstanding for 4 or 5 matches but his influence fell away quickly. He and Jose need to work out how he can return to that form and maintain it.

There is a serious fight for our offensive places. It will be interesting how ths pans out?

 

[HNIM]

I'm wishing him well tonight as he has given so many good moments over the years...

I'm wishing him well tonite because I want to win the effing match.

 

[JR1994]

The shift he’s putting in so far is exactly what mourinho wanted

 

[Haddock]

The shift he’s putting in so far is exactly what mourinho wanted

He's been sloppy though. A couple of times where he should have released the ball earlier, another couple of times where he totally misplaces the final pass and so forth. I'm not sure he has the quality on the ball to be the designated playmaker, or whatever it is he's supposed to be in this formation.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

From the amazon Doc - Dele really seemed like he's where his mates are, he's part of a family and probabvly didnt fancy having to go abroad and leave friends behind so decided its time to sort himself out or find himself isloated, lonely and without much support if he has to go somewhere like PSG to prove / save his top-end career

He comes across as surprisingly child-like in the documentary. Less cynical but more demanding than I thought he’d be

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

The shift he’s putting in so far is exactly what mourinho wanted

He did seem to put a little more effort in tonight to be fair and it was a shame that brilliant run and shot was blocked as that was heading in the corner i think, would've been a nice goal.

I think as some have said above he's just not good enough with the ball at his feet, its all very slow and predictable aside from the odd through ball and nutmeg its very readable and slow compared to say a GCL or Ndombele or Son's feet and turn of pace or direction or agility or ball skills.

Dele's strengths are in late runs into the box. At MK he was a more all-round CM with ok passing and a decent engine, similar to Jenas actually. He then got moved to this AM/n.o10 role under Poch where when he was being fed outstanding passes and crossed from Eriksen and when he was new to the scene he excellent but once teams knew about him he's become fairly easy to defend. He's certainly a good player but I'm not sure he quite fits with Jose's style of play, in fact he's quite a unique player in the shadow striker role, he's very much the epitomie of a luxury player.

He still has a chance under Jose but I certainly can't see him in our best XI when everyone is fit and think he should try to re-model his game to being more of a n.o8 and using his athleticism and 3rd man runs otherwise he's not going to get much game time.

Finally for the 'balance' of our squad if selling Dele for £60m means we can bring in Skrinjar, Milik and another DM to be back-up to PEH then I think its a perfectly fine move but FWIW I think he will 100% stay and can do very well for us, I just struggle to see him in our best XI now especially when Bale is back.

 

[double0]

He did seem to put a little more effort in tonight to be fair and it was a shame that brilliant run and shot was blocked as that was heading in the corner i think, would've been a nice goal.

I think as some have said above he's just not good enough with the ball at his feet, its all very slow and predictable aside from the odd through ball and nutmeg its very readable and slow compared to say a GCL or Ndombele or Son's feet and turn of pace or direction or agility or ball skills.

Dele's strengths are in late runs into the box. At MK he was a more all-round CM with ok passing and a decent engine, similar to Jenas actually. He then got moved to this AM/n.o10 role under Poch where when he was being fed outstanding passes and crossed from Eriksen and when he was new to the scene he excellent but once teams knew about him he's become fairly easy to defend. He's certainly a good player but I'm not sure he quite fits with Jose's style of play, in fact he's quite a unique player in the shadow striker role, he's very much the epitomie of a luxury player.

He still has a chance under Jose but I certainly can't see him in our best XI when everyone is fit and think he should try to re-model his game to being more of a n.o8 and using his athleticism and 3rd man runs otherwise he's not going to get much game time.

Finally for the 'balance' of our squad if selling Dele for £60m means we can bring in Skrinjar, Milik and another DM to be back-up to PEH then I think its a perfectly fine move but FWIW I think he will 100% stay and can do very well for us, I just struggle to see him in our best XI now especially when Bale is back.

Everyone will have their opinions on Alli I personally feel he can play a variety of positions ie mid 3, front 3 off the main striker false 9. I hope he can turn Perception around.

 

[Sophos151]

He still has a chance under Jose but I certainly can't see him in our best XI when everyone is fit and think he should try to re-model his game to being more of a n.o8 and using his athleticism and 3rd man runs otherwise he's not going to get much game time

The problem with Dele playing as a no. 8 is that he doesn't really have the athleticism or technique for it. His stride over longer distances isn't all that powerful, and he struggles to play the ball quickly and accurately over longer distances. He's got the stamina for it, and his clever movement would be very dangerous arriving from deep, but I don't think that's enough for him to be truly effective there.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

The problem with Dele playing as a no. 8 is that he doesn't really have the athleticism or technique for it. His stride over longer distances isn't all that powerful, and he struggles to play the ball quickly and accurately over longer distances. He's got the stamina for it, and his clever movement would be very dangerous arriving from deep, but I don't think that's enough for him to be truly effective there.

You could be right in which case better to sell him as he's so unique and hard to fit into our current style of play.