Dele Alli is England's best young midfielder playing in Turkey

Classical Mechanic

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A comparison with Martial would be interesting. Similar age, Same number of years in the PL, similar number of apps for their clubs, similar number of goals.

Would be interesting to see G+A/mins.
 

roonster09

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A comparison with Martial would be interesting. Similar age, Same number of years in the PL, similar number of apps for their clubs, similar number of goals.

Would be interesting to see G+A/mins.
If they have similar number of goals then Martial will have better goals per min as he didn't play regularly whereas Alli plays almost every min.
 

balaks

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A comparison with Martial would be interesting. Similar age, Same number of years in the PL, similar number of apps for their clubs, similar number of goals.

Would be interesting to see G+A/mins.
Yeah good spot - different styles of player (Martial much more of an attacker than Alli imo) but both extremely talented young players in the same league.
 

roonster09

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A comparison with Martial would be interesting. Similar age, Same number of years in the PL, similar number of apps for their clubs, similar number of goals.

Would be interesting to see G+A/mins.
Just in PL,

If it's mins per goal, then
Martial - 212 mins per Goal
Alli - 228 mins per goal

If it's Goal + assists, then
Martial - 142 mins
Alli - 136 mins
 

giorno

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Going by wikipedia but, club goals by the end of the age 23 season:

Lampard 31(187 games)
Gerrard 22(193 games)
Alli -for spurs alone.... 51(164)

Now you can go back to moaning about how he's not a midfielder :D
 

balaks

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Just in PL,

If it's mins per goal, then
Martial - 212 mins per Goal
Alli - 228 mins per goal

If it's Goal + assists, then
Martial - 142 mins
Alli - 136 mins
Interesting stuff - I really rate Martial highly but I do view him as a forward rather than a midfielder - he could probably play up front whereas I don't think Alli could - he plays deeper and is (despite people arguing otherwise - which just shows they do not watch him enough) not a second striker - he is an attacking midfielder.

Both great players and both I'd love in my team.
 

roonster09

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Interesting stuff - I really rate Martial highly but I do view him as a forward rather than a midfielder - he could probably play up front whereas I don't think Alli could - he plays deeper and is (despite people arguing otherwise - which just shows they do not watch him enough) not a second striker - he is an attacking midfielder.

Both great players and both I'd love in my team.
Martial isn't a forward though, at least be doesn't play as forward.
 

balaks

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Martial isn't a forward though, at least be doesn't play as forward.
He is more like a winger or an inside forward - that is my impression of him and is the sort of player you could see moving up front (Henry like). Not doubting his quality or down playing his stats by the way - I really think he is great and it is still a decent comparison to make with Alli.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Cheers. I thought that Martial would edge him on a per minute basis but I'm not surprised that Alli edges him.

They don't play exactly the same position but their jobs are essentially the same, provide goals and assists.
 

roonster09

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He is more like a winger or an inside forward - that is my impression of him and is the sort of player you could see moving up front (Henry like). Not doubting his quality or down playing his stats by the way - I really think he is great and it is still a decent comparison to make with Alli.
Yeah, he can play as striker and in few games he played as striker he did well. Think for now he will settle as LW.
 

Pogue Mahone

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That's pretty damn impressive for Alli to be so close to Martial in goals per minute, considering how Martial scored so many goals off the bench and plays further forward.

Still boils my piss that the supposed youth guru, Van Gaal, didn't spot Alli's potential despite fecking playing against him (and losing!) when he was still at Milton Keynes.
 

Adisa

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Proper goal yesterday. Mugged off Cech.
Don't think he'd be half the player he is today if we had signed him. He's a great player but gives me that Thomas Muller vibe of not knowing exactly why he is great. He's a rich man's Lingard who delivers far more than our guy. I rate him.
 

charlenefan

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Midfielder or second striker it's still an impressive number of goals for such a young english player

And to think last season people was saying Lingard was better than him :houllier:
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Yeah good spot - different styles of player (Martial much more of an attacker than Alli imo) but both extremely talented young players in the same league.
Well, Alli is much more attacker than Martial in Mourinho era.
 

sam147

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He is a second striker not a midfielder. His movement is fantastic. His passing range is not great for a midfielder.
 

Primativ

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Alli is absolutely a midfielder.
He is a second striker not a midfielder. His movement is fantastic. His passing range is not great for a midfielder.
Errr what? His passing and through balls are excellent. Check out the pass to assist Son last night.

Alli is an attacking midfielder not a SS. Martial is certainly an inside forward and plays in a more attacking position than Alli. I wonder what people actually see sometimes! People need to stop trying to discredit Alli by saying he plays like a striker. He doesn’t. He often plays quite deep. I would know as I watch him every game.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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He is a second striker not a midfielder. His movement is fantastic. His passing range is not great for a midfielder.
He's not a second striker this season. He has played there in the past (very close to Kane, sometimes even ahead of him) but at the moment he's playing in a deeper role and doing it very well.

His short passing game can be inconsistent, and he has a frustrating tendency to dally on the ball, but in terms of playing the killer ball he's second only to Eriksen in our team. Lost count of the amount of lovely through balls he's put on a plate for Kane, Son etc. He's a good passer of the ball and I think the weaknesses in his game are mostly down to maturity and experience, so will improve every season.

He has world class assets, but has always just needed to sharpen up some other areas of his game which is exactly what he's doing.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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Alli is absolutely a midfielder.


Errr what? His passing and through balls are excellent. Check out the pass to assist Son last night.

Alli is an attacking midfielder not a SS. Martial is certainly an inside forward and plays in a more attacking position than Alli. I wonder what people actually see sometimes! People need to stop trying to discredit Alli by saying he plays like a striker. He doesn’t. He often plays quite deep. I would know as I watch him every game.
I think at times in the past he has played almost as a SS (pushing up very close to Kane) but that simply is not the case this season, and hasn't always been the case in the past either. He's been played in a few roles.
 

Gio

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All fair comments but to bring it back to the tweet and the direct comparisons; Gerrard later went on to do that very role behind Torres under Benitez too. And a lot of definitions in football players positioning and roles have shifted since Alli and Gerrard/Lampard burst into EPL focus.
Yes, that's why the tweet was a stupid comparison. It rides on the basis that we remember Gerrard playing off Torres rather than the deeper central midfielder he was until his mid-20s. Plus it makes people question what Alli lacks compared to Gerrard and Lampard, rather than celebrating what his own massively talented skillset is.
 

hellohello

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He has gone under the radar this season but he has quietly been fantastic - he is maturing very nicely and growing in influence whereas the last couple of seasons he flitted in and out of games he is much more involved now. Overall he is becoming a better player. I honestly think he is underrated.
Agree with this, he has matured, and his overall game is better - especially his defensive positioning, vision and decision making.

As to those who claim he is a second striker, Son, Moura or both are usually play further up and stretch the play, and Kane is also further up the field. Alli is a midfielder with the freedom to roam and make attacking runs, but that doesn't really make him a second striker. I don't know what position Gerrard or Lampard played in before, nor do I care and those stats don't mean much to me. I'm very happy with Alli.
 

sam147

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Alli is absolutely a midfielder.


Errr what? His passing and through balls are excellent. Check out the pass to assist Son last night.

Alli is an attacking midfielder not a SS. Martial is certainly an inside forward and plays in a more attacking position than Alli. I wonder what people actually see sometimes! People need to stop trying to discredit Alli by saying he plays like a striker. He doesn’t. He often plays quite deep. I would know as I watch him every game.
I agree he has fantastic vision and the ability to pick a final pass. When talking about a midfielder I mean a CM. He is a second striker or an attacking midfielder. As a CM he is not the kind of player with the passing range to be able to set tempo or pick out passes from deep.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Agree with this, he has matured, and his overall game is better - especially his defensive positioning, vision and decision making.

As to those who claim he is a second striker, Son, Moura or both are usually play further up and stretch the play, and Kane is also further up the field. Alli is a midfielder with the freedom to roam and make attacking runs, but that doesn't really make him a second striker. I don't know what position Gerrard or Lampard played in before, nor do I care and those stats don't mean much to me. I'm very happy with Alli.
He's part roaming playmaker and part raumdeuter, though the latter describes him best.

I do feel that he is improving this season too but I think this is mostly due to him tightening up on possession losses (this was the biggest criticism I had of him previously).

Per 90 minutes this season his unsuccessful touches and dispossessions in the PL are 1.9 and 1.5 respectively. Last season they were 3.2 and 2.7, the season before 2.4 and 2.3 and the season before that 3 and 3.
 
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TwoSheds

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Wasn't Lampard pretty gash until about 23/24 though? He got to the level he did through hard work as much as talent. Plus even though he had a very attacking role at Chelsea it was still a Mourinho team and he was still a midfielder not a striker like Alli.
 

TwoSheds

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Midfielder or second striker it's still an impressive number of goals for such a young english player

And to think last season people was saying Lingard was better than him :houllier:
Tbf, who had a better world cup though?
 

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This is the average positions of Spurs players against Burnley, their last league match


Alli is the number 20 right behind 27 Lucas Moura, Kane to the right and 11 Lamela

He plays in the hole between midfield and attack. Often this type of player is picked instead of a 2nd striker up front
 

Adam-Utd

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He's at his best when closest to goal. His movement and finishing are his best attributes IMO.
 

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He has - he IS a midfielder (an attacking one) and is an improving one. Those who love to play down his stats by claiming he is a second striker - even if that was the case (it isn't) then his stats for a 22 year old are outstanding anyway so it's a pretty poor attempt at down playing his ability.
Dont think it's people down playing him, just people saying he shouldnt be considered as a central midfielder and endlessly compared to Gerrard and lampard. They both had spells where they played further forward, sure, but Alli for me has always seemed like much more of an attacking mid
#10 type. He's very good at it, but the annoying thing is when people say we need a central midfielder in and say Alli would be the dream when he really isnt that type of player. As the most advanced of a midfield 3, playing the 10 in a 4231, playing as a second striker... those are the roles that get the best out of him, especially his movement and finishing.
 

El Jefe

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For the Spurs fans claiming Alli isn't a second striker, what midfielder does he play like or which midfielder occupies the positions he has in his last 3 seasons for Spurs.

To me positionally, he's no different to Rooney as a SS or when Gerrard played the position behind Torres. Sure at times he's been a midfielder but for the most part I see a partnership with him and Kane rather than the players behind him.

Btw there's nothing demeaning about referring to him as an SS because he's a bloody good one.
 

Angry Virginian

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For the Spurs fans claiming Alli isn't a second striker, what midfielder does he play like or which midfielder occupies the positions he has in his last 3 seasons for Spurs.

To me positionally, he's no different to Rooney as a SS or when Gerrard played the position behind Torres. Sure at times he's been a midfielder but for the most part I see a partnership with him and Kane rather than the players behind him.

Btw there's nothing demeaning about referring to him as an SS because he's a bloody good one.
Second striker implies limited defensive responsibilities. Alli often tracks back to our own box. In games where Spurs play 4-3-3, he is usually on the left side of the middle 3. In games where we play 4-2-3-1, he usually plays as the middle man of the 3 and sometimes on the left. In 3-5-2, he sometimes play up top with Kane (mostly last season) and sometimes as the left CM. In short, it is hard to classify him.
 

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Lingard had a better season full stop not just the WC but it's just classic caf short-sightedness
It was short-sightedness to say Lingard was better than Alli in the first place.

Alli had a relatively average season last year, but still managed 9 goals and 10 assists, if Lingard gets that in the league it would be his best career return. Lingard had the best in his career last season and only managed 8 goals and 5 assists, I think it was always pretty obvious who had more talent and who would forge a greater career. Alli had just come off the back of a season where he scored 18 (!) league goals at the age of 21 ffs. Even when comparing a poor season for Alli and Lingard's career best, the difference really wasn't that stark.

Lingard was better in the World Cup, but it's not like he was that special .. scored 1 goal (same as Alli) vs Panama, worked hard and was good off the ball. Given the choice, would anybody really take Lingard ahead of him? I honestly don't mind Jesse and think he's a very useful squad player for United, gives it his all and scores the odd important goal. Fact is though he's blatantly not on the same level potential wise as Alli, who has genuine top level quality in him.
 

Snow

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Thought Spurs looked bang average for the better half of the season but lately they've been turning up and Dele Alli has looked really good in he past few matches and instrumental for Spurs in their "fair" wins. Kane's been below his far but still quite good, he's a bit like Rooney was back in the day in that his floor was always a decent performance at least, but the reason I bring up Kane is that usually we look at a good Spurs side with Kane being the one spearheading it and Eriksen pulling the strings but Alli has been the alpha and omega in December.

I mentioned it last year that Alli never seems to kick it off until the Christmas ads start, at least statistically, but to be fair to him this season he was injured for a good perioud.

He's still a little cnut and I don't think he'll grow out of it yet. I see it more as a weakness in his game rather than some sort of driving force.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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It was short-sightedness to say Lingard was better than Alli in the first place.

Alli had a relatively average season last year, but still managed 9 goals and 10 assists, if Lingard gets that in the league it would be his best career return. Lingard had the best in his career last season and only managed 8 goals and 5 assists, I think it was always pretty obvious who had more talent and who would forge a greater career. Alli had just come off the back of a season where he scored 18 (!) league goals at the age of 21 ffs. Even when comparing a poor season for Alli and Lingard's career best, the difference really wasn't that stark.

Lingard was better in the World Cup, but it's not like he was that special .. scored 1 goal (same as Alli) vs Panama, worked hard and was good off the ball. Given the choice, would anybody really take Lingard ahead of him? I honestly don't mind Jesse and think he's a very useful squad player for United, gives it his all and scores the odd important goal. Fact is though he's blatantly not on the same level potential wise as Alli, who has genuine top level quality in him.
I don’t even get the comparison honestly given the difference in their age. I hate to say it but it’s like they get compared because they are both English and from a black background. They have been compared for a couple of seasons now.
 

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Proper goal yesterday. Mugged off Cech.
Don't think he'd be half the player he is today if we had signed him. He's a great player but gives me that Thomas Muller vibe of not knowing exactly why he is great. He's a rich man's Lingard who delivers far more than our guy. I rate him.
He is cleary one of the best young players out there. Still cant believe he is only 22, he will only get better and his consistency will improve.

Eriksen at Alli's age had consistency issues. Everyone could see the potential, but he would just fade in and out of games.

A twat with a history of some horrible tackles however. As he gets older he should eliminate that side of his game.
 

charlenefan

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I don’t even get the comparison honestly given the difference in their age. I hate to say it but it’s like they get compared because they are both English and from a black background. They have been compared for a couple of seasons now.
For England they play in the same position as well tbf
 

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The arrival of Lucas has seen Dele play almost exclusively deeper this season (Lucas being a pure out and out second striker - and Son and Lamela also being exclusively attackers), and he's improved over the season as he's gotten used to it. He plays now much more in the spaces Eriksen does than ahead of him, and much more been demanded of him defensively.

He's been absolutely excellent for the last month or so.
 

Classical Mechanic

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I don’t even get the comparison honestly given the difference in their age. I hate to say it but it’s like they get compared because they are both English and from a black background. They have been compared for a couple of seasons now.
I don't think its because of their race and background. Lingard is best described as a raumdeuter and roaming playmaker too, although with different attributes and less end product.
 
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