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

[hellohello]

A no.10 is known as an attacking midfielder? Then you have @hellohello saying that Alli plays as a no.10/tip of a diamond most of the time.

Spurs fans saying it's a myth probably don't even know what a no.10 is. The fact that some think no.10 = second striker is proof of that. A no.10 and second striker are different roles. Surely Spurs fans arent saying Alli is playing as a no.8 this season.

Eriksen, Winks, Sissoko and Dier are more involved in midfield play than Alli. He isn't a genuine midfielder this season (it's akin to calling Kane a playmaker because he drops deep and feeds runners like Son and Alli, when in reality Eriksen is the true playmaker for Spurs). He does not run Spurs midfield.

Lately we have been playing something like this.

-----Winks-----
Sissoko-Eriksen
-------Alli-------
--Kane---Son---

I don't know exactly how I would classify him, perhaps others with more knowledge than me would be able to do so. For me I wouldn't call him a classic number 10 since I associate it with someone who sit in the hole something Alli rarely does. What he excel at is to time his runs from deep, either running beyond the strikers or arriving late into the box. He is also a very creative player who can spot a pass, and often try to force something to happen. We are also very reliant on his defensive contribution, and he is an extremely hard worker. The downsides is that he is inconsistent, and sometimes you scratch your head wondering what on earth he was thinking, and his passing can be erratic and lead to losing possession. I also don't think he has the best shot on him, and despite being a good finisher since he has good composure and can pick his spot he won't score from outside the box like Son, Eriksen and Kane can.

 

[Loon]

He’s frighteningly consistent.... he’s an irritating cnut 24/7.

 

[11101]

Glad he got nothing against us. Horrible cretin, rolling around like he's been shot because Pogba accidentally did to him what he intentionally does to others every week.

 

[Acole9]

Is there going to be a time when we play Spurs and he plays they won't mention how he was part of the 4-0 loss to MK Dons?

 

[BalanceUnAutreJoint]

I'll say it again, the only thing impressive about him is reading "midfielder" next to his goals/assists statistics.
Nothing else really.
I'll never be convinced he's got what it takes to be world class or start for a club of a higher level than Spurs.

Would never take him at United.

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

No he isn’t it.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

A Dele Alli style tackle to Dele Alli by Pogba today.

 

[Jib]

he isn't a midfielder...

 

[Eire Red United]

Pogba got him lovely today.

 

[Renegade]

Never a Midfielder.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

Poor in that role.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Not great in the deeper position.

 

[Bobski]

A striker playing as an attacking midfielder, modern day David Platt. Doesn't have the spatial awareness to play an orthodox midfield role. Might do the odd nice thing but makes far too many key, critical errors to be trusted in that role. Needs a lot of development if he is ever to play that role decently.

 

[Tommy]

Passenger tonight, but Spurs (rightly) won't care right now.

 

[Samid]

Got destroyed on Sky.

Tweet

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[LilyWhiteSpur]

Got destroyed on Sky.

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He’s been shite for a season, but yet he continues to play, easy to see why he has deteriorated if no matter how much he goes missing he is still in the starting 11.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

He is a bit crap.

 

[SteveJ]

Roy Keane's humility is a form of conceitedness.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

He's always been a midfielder where, if he's not scoring, then he's not in the game much.

He's an attacking midfielder, who likes to run in behind the forward. We don't see much of that today. Whether the system allows him to do that or not, I dont know, but because he'a not scoring, people will say he's not good, when actually that's what got him so highly rated.

 

[GledTheRed]

He was shite when he was good, scored a few goals playing in the 10 position. Crap over rated nob head.

 

[Amadaeus]

Poch worked magic on him. Never a good player. Lingard even has more talent.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Poch worked magic on him. Never a good player. Lingard even has more talent.

Where has this magic gone then from saint poch?

 

[RedStarUnited]

He's always been a midfielder where, if he's not scoring, then he's not in the game much.

He's an attacking midfielder, who likes to run in behind the forward. We don't see much of that today. Whether the system allows him to do that or not, I dont know, but because he'a not scoring, people will say he's not good, when actually that's what got him so highly rated.

For me he was never a midfielder. He was a great second striker with Kane. The emergence of Son has killed his career.

 

[Amadaeus]

Where has this magic gone then from saint poch?

Papered over the cracks. Ali was great for two or three season, due to playing in a great system, high intensity, and high energy team. Spurs now, needs a complete rebuild to achieve Poch vision again and create magic with average players at his disposal. Poch can create such magic again, he just needs a lot of backing. Something Spurs might not be able to afford. Moreover, players that wants to play for him. As Nagglesman said, football is 30% tactics, and 70% social competence. Ali ego has gotten to big and needs to be grounded. Poch has overachieved at Spurs and it built ego. Poch will have to coach the ego out of some of his experience players and ensure the physiological environment is right for them to succeed. E.g., might need to adjust the wage structure.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Looked unbelievable in 15/16 and 16/17.

What on earth happened to him? He's only 23, how can someone peak at 19/20/21?

I thought he was the next Frank Lampard.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Poch worked magic on him. Never a good player. Lingard even has more talent.

Load of shite.

Dele is a very talented player. Bit erratic, but a natural goal scorer and was capable of magic whilst also being a tenacious bastard. His goal against Palace is one of my favourite ever as a Spurs fan.

His head has gone, and now you want to act like all he did was down to Poch? Nah, if anything I point a finger at the manager for yet another talent in the squad rotting away, still getting played with zero progression.

If what you were saying was remotely true, Poch could have been picking up bang average players season after season and turning them in to worldies. Lamela would be one of the best in the league, we wouldn’t have all those failed signings, because according to you Poch can turn water in to wine.


The truth is Dele was a talented youngster who Poch nurtured really well. He gave him a position which suited him perfectly, managed his playing time and did everything right. But like Poch himself, Dele has stalled at the club.

 

[Pow]

Looked unbelievable in 15/16 and 16/17.

What on earth happened to him? He's only 23, how can someone peak at 19/20/21?

I thought he was the next Frank Lampard.

Holy shit is he only 23 ??? Kinell. Maybe he needs a move then to kick start his career again. Mad to think he was banging goals in consistently at 19/20

 

[Amadaeus]

Load of shite.

Dele is a very talented player. Bit erratic, but a natural goal scorer and was capable of magic whilst also being a tenacious bastard. His goal against Palace is one of my favourite ever as a Spurs fan.

His head has gone, and now you want to act like all he did was down to Poch? Nah, if anything I point a finger at the manager for yet another talent in the squad rotting away, still getting played with zero progression.

If what you were saying was remotely true, Poch could have been picking up bang average players season after season and turning them in to worldies. Lamela would be one of the best in the league, we wouldn’t have all those failed signings, because according to you Poch can turn water in to wine.


The truth is Dele was a talented youngster who Poch nurtured really well. He gave him a position which suited him perfectly, managed his playing time and did everything right. But like Poch himself, Dele has stalled at the club.

He is shite for England as well. Poch has no say in how he plays for Southgate. Poch is giving him a chance to regain his form. Ali should be grateful that Poch still plays him even though he is complete shite. Poch sees the talent he has as he nurtured that talent, so he can’t just isolate him in the reserve. I do believe that the right approach is that he should not be starting, but at least get some game time to get back his confidence. Lo Celso and maybe Lamela should be ahead.

Poch has been picking up average players season after season and turning them into fantastic players. Have you seen the money Spurs spent on players? Even Everton, West Ham, Southampton and Newcastle has spent higher .

 

[Ludens the Red]

Poch worked magic on him. Never a good player. Lingard even has more talent.

Massively disagree . Way more talented than Lingard. Rewatch Mk Dons/ United if you need reminding of how well rounded a midfielder he is.
He’s a victim of his own success in truth. His goals and assists record in his first few years at spurs were obviously fantastic but in a weird way it made him lose sight of developing his natural attributes. That in turn seems to have made him a bit lazy, add in a loss of confidence and a loss of desire and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Spurs fans won’t like this but the best thing for him to do is move clubs. Hit restart and go again.

 

[Dec9003]

Pochettino hasn't turned any average players into fantastic ones, imo that isn't something that's possible.
He's helped talented players realise their potential though.
I don't know if Alli is that good or not, maybe he just needs a change of scenery/manager.

 

[cjj]

Pochettino hasn't turned any average players into fantastic ones, imo that isn't something that's possible.
He's helped talented players realise their potential though.
I don't know if Alli is that good or not, maybe he just needs a change of scenery/manager.

The whole club needs a change of manager.


Alli isn't alone - plenty of players are suffering under him

 

[Ekeke]

For me he was never a midfielder. He was a great second striker with Kane. The emergence of Son has killed his career.

Pretty much. Was very good at getting into the right place to get on the end of a chance

The English Lingard

 

[Dec9003]

The whole club needs a change of manager.


Alli isn't alone - plenty of players are suffering under him

It does seem that way yeah.
Poch and the squad are probably just a bit fed up of each other at this point, he has been with you for a while as far as modern managers are concerned.

 

[UncleBob]

Poch worked magic on him. Never a good player. Lingard even has more talent.

No.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

He is shite for England as well. Poch has no say in how he plays for Southgate. Poch is giving him a chance to regain his form. Ali should be grateful that Poch still plays him even though he is complete shite. Poch sees the talent he has as he nurtured that talent, so he can’t just isolate him in the reserve. I do believe that the right approach is that he should not be starting, but at least get some game time to get back his confidence. Lo Celso and maybe Lamela should be ahead.

Poch has been picking up average players season after season and turning them into fantastic players. Have you seen the money Spurs spent on players? Even Everton, West Ham, Southampton and Newcastle has spent higher .

Alli just hasn’t progressed. He was insane breaking out at such a young age and banging them in, and there’s no way you can attribute that all to Poch. A good manager can’t make a 19 year old bang in Prem goals for fun unless he has something. The issue was he didn’t kick on from those 2 early seasons.

Pochettino has undoubtedly improved players but again, he doesn’t turn water in to wine. Many players have flopped under him (including purchases he made) and like any coach, he can only improve to a certain extent. The core he had at Spurs in 16/17 was made up of very talented players, who yes he developed well .. but I struggle to see any ‘average’ talents who he made look great long term. Dier for a while, Rose for a season perhaps .. but otherwise while the likes of Kane, Eriksen, Alli, Dembele, Son etc were certainly helped by poch, the talent was there.

The spending is an issue. We haven’t invested enough long term. But just because Alli was 5m or whatever, doesn’t mean he isn’t a talent. Right now I think our biggest issue is that we have a very unbalanced squad, but personally I do think Poch is at least a little responsible for that.

On Alli specifically, anybody who denies he’s talented is a fool. Anybody could see his ability when he broke through. Maybe not the very top tier of talent, but not far behind for sure. He has a very unique skill set though, and injuries/loss of drive seem to be eating away at his career.

Still very young, though ..

 

[lysglimt]

No.

Depends how you look at it. Alli isn't an exceptionally skilled footballer - but he is (was) maybe one of the best in the P.L at timing his runs. And he needs good footballers around him to set him up. But used in the right way, and when he is in form - he is a massive threat.

But he hasn't been anywhere near that form for almost 2.5 years - he was brilliant 16/17. Good in 17/18. Average in 18/19 and he has started 19/20 really poorly.

 

[fps]

Alli is a player others have worked out. When he came into the team and started scoring goals, he got a lot of respect from oppo defenders which has now gone as it’s become clear he doesn’t have the turn of pace to get away and his movement is fairly predictable. He’s neat and technically good, but shouldn’t be starting for a team with title aspirations.

 

[Skills]

For me he was never a midfielder. He was a great second striker with Kane. The emergence of Son has killed his career.

Yeah I think this sums it up.

On another note, I think Alli is one of those funny players who seem to reflect the form of his team perfectly. If they're playing well, he plays well and if they're shit his own form looks like crap. Walcott was another

 

[Cee90]

I’d still have him at United, there is a good player in there.

 

[Zlatan 7]

He is shite for England as well. Poch has no say in how he plays for Southgate. Poch is giving him a chance to regain his form. Ali should be grateful that Poch still plays him even though he is complete shite. Poch sees the talent he has as he nurtured that talent, so he can’t just isolate him in the reserve. I do believe that the right approach is that he should not be starting, but at least get some game time to get back his confidence. Lo Celso and maybe Lamela should be ahead.

Poch has been picking up average players season after season and turning them into fantastic players. Have you seen the money Spurs spent on players? Even Everton, West Ham, Southampton and Newcastle has spent higher .

Like who?