Dele Alli | Overlap Interview with Neville opens up on childhood trauma and mental health issues

[Damien]

For those who aren't going to take the time to watch the video before commenting, at the very least take (at most) five minutes out of your life to read the summary, and if, after all that you still have no empathy for him, heaven help your family if they have any personal problems. Access to money doesn't automatically sort out problems, if anything it makes things worse as seen by the "27 club"

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Horrible that he said he felt coerced into going public with it because the tabloids had got wind of his trip to rehab. With everything else that has been going on this past week, surely it is time we properly regulated this terrible industry?

I mean, look at what the Sun did this last week - will there be any concequences? Will there feck.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Great post @Damien !

Edit - Meant sincerely.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Ironically its Giflord that needs to wake the fk up

 

[Grande]

Was going to answer an arrogant and aggressive self defence post, but I can see it’s unnecessary.

What I’d like to put a light on, is how this case again demonstrates that people psychologizing players lack of performance or wrong actions, mostly are talking out of their arses. And that if you are going to generalize and paychologize someone, it is actually much, much worse doing it with a negative slant than a positive slant.

Just in this thread, someone jokes about ‘attitude’ problems of other players, without really knowing what mental attitudes they have. It might be tempting to psychologize such posters, but the truth is I don’t know why they want to do that, I just know I think it’s both an unnecessary and a shitty thing to do.

 

[pocco]

Damn, I used to argue on here that he wasn't a top class player etc, probably going a bit overboard with my analysis of his game and my criticism. If I'd have known all this I'd have just left him to enjoy the plaudits, not that my comments made any difference. Just goes to show how you never know what is going on with people and should act accordingly.

I hope he gets something going again and enjoys the rest of his career. Poch sounds a great guy too, I was wondering why he was saying he wants to check in on Dele and see what is going on with him.

 

[Real Name]

Such a sad and traumatizing story. He's gone through so many horrible things through his life. Love the bit about his adoptive family and how he repeats he doesnt blame his mum.

 

[Ole'sattheWheel]

Very very brave of him to come out with that, especially the molestation stuff. You just know there will be some absolute scum fans who will bring that up against him

 

[TrustInOle]

Broke my heart watching this! Lost for words, just hope he has really found his stability and hope the future is kinder for him, obviously down the list of importance but hope he can get his career going again, will never forget his performance against us when we played MK Don's.

All the best Dele.

 

[Cloud7]

For those who aren't going to take the time to watch the video before commenting, at the very least take (at most) five minutes out of your life to read the summary, and if, after all that you still have no empathy for him, heaven help your family if they have any personal problems. Access to money doesn't automatically sort out problems, if anything it makes things worse as seen by the "27 club"

Man this is a depressing read. It's really remarkable that he was able to come through all that and make a career in top flight football. Speaks volumes of his strength of character (Not sure if that's the right description I'm using there)

Also it was nice to read about his relationship with Poch and how much he helped him.

 

[Tribec]

Whilst not being someone who reads the papers and ever really believes everything they write, stuff sticks and with Dele what stuck with myself is what was mentioned in the interview, "Lazy". I didn't for one minute think he may be struggling with anything, not because he's a well paid footballer, but because he hid it so well. This though explains a lot and was difficult to watch.

Fair play to Dele for doing the interview, even if it was done knowing that the tabloids were about to write about it, and we've seen this week how they can be. Credit to Neville as well, obviously Dele had to feel comfortable with him to be the one doing the interview and also for the way he handled the interview, at times he plays the fool, but he held the right tone through out this one.

 

[UnitedSofa]

After watching the podcast / reading the summary above, maybe some of you wishing well for Dele and realising that Footballers are humans too, that you can extend some humility and understanding for Sancho. We all know he has taken some time out for personal reasons, reasons for which we may never know, just understand people go through things and Sancho may not be out the other side of things yet.

 

[1905]

Unfortunately I think the problems in Dele’s career would’ve still arose in some shape or form regardless of mental health issues. But those issues probably amplified everything and caused his career to spiral as it has. If I remember correctly his home was robbed aswell while at Spurs and he was held at gunpoint? Guy has been through it all and is still so young all things considered.

Good on him for speaking although not on the terms he would’ve wanted with the media being vultures. Still young enough to turn it around so good luck to him.

 

[IRN-BRUno]

Only read the summary but that sounds like an incredibly tough start to life! I'd seen stuff before mentioning he'd had issues when he was younger but I didn't expect it to be so bad.

Hopefully he can get his career back on track, he was someone I wanted us to sign when he was at MK Dons and then the impact he made initially at Spurs was superb.

 

[onemanarmy]

After watching the podcast / reading the summary above, maybe some of you wishing well for Dele and realising that Footballers are humans too, that you can extend some humility and understanding for Sancho. We all know he has taken some time out for personal reasons, reasons for which we may never know, just understand people go through things and Sancho may not be out the other side of things yet.

This should be pinned in here.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

I feel so much care for Dele Alli, I really do. Poor fecking lad.

Also really respect him for going through all he has and even making it as a pro player, which is a fecking huge achievement on its own.

I really hope he can find the right place for his talent to shine again on the pitch cuz he deserves it.

Hope his story has some happy times just around the corner for him.

 

[Scandi Red]

He was doing this shit when he was at the top of his game back in 2016-17.
You easily accept players mental issues but then you could do the same for serial killers, hedge fund bankers who wasted money, a girl who cheated on you multiple times,...

This is a wild post

 

[SilentWitness]

Unfortunately I think the problems in Dele’s career would’ve still arose in some shape or form regardless of mental health issues. But those issues probably amplified everything and caused his career to spiral as it has. If I remember correctly his home was robbed aswell while at Spurs and he was held at gunpoint? Guy has been through it all and is still so young all things considered.

Good on him for speaking although not on the terms he would’ve wanted with the media being vultures. Still young enough to turn it around so good luck to him.

I do think the role he played was a very “specialised” one that required a team around him to make up for the lack of qualities he had in other areas but you could see from his time with us and latter stages at Tottenham that he lost all footballing passion and quality individually aswell and now it makes complete sense as to why.

 

[InspiRED]

What a fantastic bloke. Touchingly honest interview about brutal life experience, hope his life can improve again from here. All the best to him.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Sorry I didn’t see this post, harrowing stuff. I’m not Neville’s biggest fan and have been critical of Dele for years. Puts it all in perspective. Gary handled it in such a good way, kudos to Ali, can’t be easy.

 

[The Corinthian]

Poor guy and respect to him for opening up about it. Just makes you think how important a good childhood, strong foundational upbringings, and the protection of parents/guardians are to succeed in life. And it seems to be in short supply for so many people. A sad indictment of where we are as a society.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Also really respect him for going through all he has and even making it as a pro player, which is a fecking huge achievement on its own.

Yeah this is important, I mentioned earlier in the thread that whilst he might of failed to this point if you compare him to the very best players in the game he has made a huge success of his life overall.

Getting to the level of being one of the star players in a Champions League club in the Premier League takes an ungodly amount of hard work and dedication.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Poor guy and respect to him for opening up about it. Just makes you think how important a good childhood, strong foundational upbringings, and the protection of parents/guardians are to succeed in life. And it seems to be in short supply for so many people. A sad indictment of where we are as a society.

Its only in the last 5 years I’ve realised how important mental health is, especially for men. This social acceptance of *man up and shut up* needs to feck right off.

 

[Witchking]

Sucks that they did not put in Mourinho's apology. People want gossip and he was slaughtered about being lazy.

Think Fergie had said that this guy had the potential, hopefully he is able to bring his career back on track.

Wish him all the best.

Edit: Wasn't a fan of his attitude but now can understand how he built it up. Can't be tough.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Sucks that they did not put in Mourinho's apology. People want gossip and he was slaughtered about being lazy.

Think Fergie had said that this guy had the potential, hopefully he is able to bring his career back on track.

Wish him all the best.

I always thought that Mourinho thing was weird. I never really rated him as a player particularly highly but I never would have taken him for being lazy. He thrived under Poch who is obsessed with workrate and Dele Alli was one of the more intense players in that team.

Those documentaries are just total trash TV. Entertaining but mostly fiction.

 

[Buster15]

Hadn't realised any of this. But it was pretty clear that his decline as a top class player was quite startling.
So I would hope for his sake that he can get his mental and physical health sorted out and at least get back to some sort of form.

 

[r3idy]

Makes you wonder when you see other players go through the same kind of routine on the pitch are they suffering in the same way. e.g. Sancho.

Fair play to the lad, hopefully it helps and inspires others.

 

[Red_Aaron]

Imagine being shipped off to a foreign country at 6 to 'learn discipline' right after being sexually abused too

fckin hell

 

[TsuWave]

I've watched it. That's why i find the reactions here so weird. I can already see a similar video with Sancho in 5 years time and everyone's gonna believe it.

I mean, footballers are people and go through things that affect them and their performance at work, you know, like most people do. Like, Sancho had a long mid season break last season because he was going through something - is it really that unfathomable that has affected him? If a video/interview comes out about it, it’s not coming out of thin air, because again, we’re aware he was struggling with something - so much so the manager sanctioned him being away for so long last year.

 

[Giggsy13]

After watching the podcast / reading the summary above, maybe some of you wishing well for Dele and realising that Footballers are humans too, that you can extend some humility and understanding for Sancho. We all know he has taken some time out for personal reasons, reasons for which we may never know, just understand people go through things and Sancho may not be out the other side of things yet.

Bang on.

 

[Real Name]

Sucks that they did not put in Mourinho's apology. People want gossip and he was slaughtered about being lazy.

Think Fergie had said that this guy had the potential, hopefully he is able to bring his career back on track.

Wish him all the best.

Edit: Wasn't a fan of his attitude but now can understand how he built it up. Can't be tough.

Yeah that was bad. Just so there can be further talk and gossip after the movie got out.

 

[Massive Spanner]

That’s tough, poor lad. He’s clearly been through so much. Fair fecks to him for opening up about it.

gif lord is a cnut of a person, good riddance.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Imagine being shipped off to a foreign country at 6 to 'learn discipline' right after being sexually abused too

fckin hell

The sad thing is that from the way he was so difinitive in not wanting a relationship with him, I imagine there is more there with his dad that we don't know about.

 

[UnitedSofa]

I've watched it. That's why i find the reactions here so weird. I can already see a similar video with Sancho in 5 years time and everyone's gonna believe it.

Wow.

 

[Giggsy13]

Alli doesn’t have to reach his previous levels to inspire others; the fact he was brave enough to speak out on this is enough to do it. Genuinely hope he gets the help he needs so that he could lead a happy life.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Yeah this is important, I mentioned earlier in the thread that whilst he might of failed to this point if you compare him to the very best players in the game he has made a huge success of his life overall.

Getting to the level of being one of the star players in a Champions League club in the Premier League takes an ungodly amount of hard work and dedication.

Absolutely.

It’s something that happens a lot in footy discussions actually - I.e playing at a Championship level and not being good enough for the PL is a ‘failure’, which is such a ridiculous logic and is blatantly untrue but we’re all guilty of that kind of thinking to some degree.

I think the culture of PL footy kind of hypnotises you when you support a huge, elite level team and you sometimes have to actually think about things hard and remember that any professional sportsperson has achieved a great deal to simply get to the level of being pro.

Same with people in music / art actually.

There shouldn’t be any shame whatsoever in a player who was once at a PL club making a living doing what they Love in the Championship or a lower league.

It’d be like saying a musician is a ‘failure’ because they used to be in the biggest band in the country, but now they ‘only’ play to 1000 fans a show and sell enough records to ‘just’ pay their mortgage.

When most of the people calling them ‘failures’ would be fecking giddy to be living such a lifestyle (myself included)!

But yeah, Dele should be proud of what he’s achieved, and hopefully more good times are in store for the lad.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

One of my best mates is an MK Dons fan so I've known about Dele Alli since his breakthrough there at 16, and knew he'd had a very tough life before being adopted. Obviously some of those things he's revealing for the first time, so didn't know it was as bad as that but knew it was bad.

You read a lot of interviews / articles where the premise is: having a tougher upbringing is more conducive to achieving in sport as those with a more 'privileged' upbringing aren't as hungry, determined, appreciative, etc. But the flip side, I guess, is you never know how much that tough upbringing can scar you mentally in the long run.

Obviously he deserves a lot of sympathy for what happened to him as a kid. It's good that he's taking some responsibility for his lack of effort in training and off-field partying while taking a big wage from clubs - but it's fair to also give some context to where, and why, his mind was at at that stage.

Good luck to him. Hope he can get his mental health sorted, and if that allows him to get his footballing career back on track then even better. But main thing is his mental health and happiness.

 

[Boycott]

It sounds like Pochettino was a father like figure to him.

 

[McGrathsipan]

SKY sensationalizing it too the cnuts.

I hope he gets back on the pitch and back on track

 

[MegadrivePerson]

Very sad to read this.

Fair play to Dele for coming out with it publicly, hopefully for his sake this can be the first step to getting his career back on track.