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Player Watch: Dele Alli

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thebenjamin

thebenjamin

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Jul 1, 2008
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Luka Van der Bale said:
Someone needs to make a video of his performance against Boro. Didn't get much of a mention on here but the kid was fantastic. Really starting to bring a level more control to his game rather than just sporadic moments of brilliance.
Click to expand...

Yeah completely agree, I thought it was possibly his best performance for us, albeit not containing spectacular goals or assists. But in terms of first touch, balance, passing, awareness, just natural football ability. Exceptional. Frightening how good he could be, without doubt one of the best in the world.
 
dagraham

dagraham

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Sep 20, 2005
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Gbspurs said:
He is one of those players that when we are all old we will be telling our grandkids about. Same with Kane.

Can't quite believe we somehow managed to get the two most talented English players of a generation in our team.
Click to expand...

We can thank good 'ol David Pleat for that one I believe.
 
Col_M

Col_M

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Feb 28, 2012
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K

kmk

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Oct 5, 2014
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http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...nd-germany-performance-analysis-a7644801.html

Dele Alli fantastic yet again for England against Germany, to prove that he is the man for the big occasions

Alli was desperately unlucky to find himself on the losing team and his daring display highlighted why he will be the driving force for club and country for years to come

Dele Alli does not turn 21 for another two weeks and yet in almost every game for club and country he manages to set new standards.

On a night that was far better than the result suggests, Alli was fantastic, England’s best player and a perfect encapsulation of what Gareth Southgate is trying to do with this young team. If this England team is to go anywhere in the next few years then it will be dragged there by Alli's striding brilliance.

Maybe it should be no surprise that Alli looked so home on such a big stage. He was excellent against Germany this time last year, not in Dortmund but at Berlin’s even bigger Olympistadion, a night when he showed he could mix it at the very top. He has shone for Tottenham in the Champions League and Europa League, as well as against the biggest teams in the country.

At the Westfalenstadion he was England’s star, at the heart of everything they did well for their excellent first hour. Southgate pushed him behind Jamie Vardy in a 3-4-2-1 system that is not very different from how he plays for Spurs. It was Alli’s job to press high, robbing the ball from German defenders. He did that bravely, snapping into tackles and not giving them a moment’s rest.

For Spurs Alli has a brilliant natural understanding with Harry Kane. It was not quite the same with Vardy but he still found him well, playing clever passes that with a bit more luck would have been assists.

Alli was not the threat in the box he is for Tottenham as he did not have quite the same quality of crosses to feed off. But he did have England’s best chance, running onto Vardy’s pass but waiting a split second too long to shot, allowing Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to block. When Alli got into wide areas who showed his natural skill, beating Jonas Hector with a move that will be imitated in schoolyards everwhere.

Most players move down the pitch as they grow up, from attacking roles into deeper ones, but Alli is on the opposite path. When Mauricio Pochettino first saw him play, back in the autumn of 2014, the 18-year-old Alli was playing in holding midfield for MK Dons in their famous 4-0 defeat of Manchester United in the League Cup.

When Alli arrived at Spurs Pochettino started him in midfield, as a number 10 or as an inside-left in his 4-2-3-1. This year he has moved up into a striking role, often playing nearly alongside Harry Kane in a system that is almost 3-5-2. Pochettino wants to make the most of his natural aggression, sense of timing and killer instincts. How better to do that than to play him up front?

That is why Alli has 15 Premier League goals already this season, 18 in all competitions, and it is not fanciful to suggest that he could finish the season with even more than Harry Kane, currently recovering from an ankle ligament injury.

Clearly Gareth Southgate has had the same realisation, which is why Alli is following similar path with England. In the autumn internationals Southgate used Alli in the number 10 role, even if that meant sacrificing Wayne Rooney from the job he had been doing for England over the last few years.

As soon as Southgate came into this job he knew that Alli was the man to build around. He had only played two games for the Under-21s, his rapid rise from the lower leagues leapfrogging him past so many academy players who get stuck at under-21 level for too long.

What Southgate sees in Alli is the same as what Pochettino sees in him: a very rare mix of athleticism, skill, speed but above all sharp instincts and courage. That is why he will be the driving force for club and country for years to come.
 
doctor stefan Freud

doctor stefan Freud

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Sep 2, 2013
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kmk said:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...nd-germany-performance-analysis-a7644801.html

Dele Alli fantastic yet again for England against Germany, to prove that he is the man for the big occasions

Alli was desperately unlucky to find himself on the losing team and his daring display highlighted why he will be the driving force for club and country for years to come

Dele Alli does not turn 21 for another two weeks and yet in almost every game for club and country he manages to set new standards.

On a night that was far better than the result suggests, Alli was fantastic, England’s best player and a perfect encapsulation of what Gareth Southgate is trying to do with this young team. If this England team is to go anywhere in the next few years then it will be dragged there by Alli's striding brilliance.

Maybe it should be no surprise that Alli looked so home on such a big stage. He was excellent against Germany this time last year, not in Dortmund but at Berlin’s even bigger Olympistadion, a night when he showed he could mix it at the very top. He has shone for Tottenham in the Champions League and Europa League, as well as against the biggest teams in the country.

At the Westfalenstadion he was England’s star, at the heart of everything they did well for their excellent first hour. Southgate pushed him behind Jamie Vardy in a 3-4-2-1 system that is not very different from how he plays for Spurs. It was Alli’s job to press high, robbing the ball from German defenders. He did that bravely, snapping into tackles and not giving them a moment’s rest.

For Spurs Alli has a brilliant natural understanding with Harry Kane. It was not quite the same with Vardy but he still found him well, playing clever passes that with a bit more luck would have been assists.

Alli was not the threat in the box he is for Tottenham as he did not have quite the same quality of crosses to feed off. But he did have England’s best chance, running onto Vardy’s pass but waiting a split second too long to shot, allowing Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to block. When Alli got into wide areas who showed his natural skill, beating Jonas Hector with a move that will be imitated in schoolyards everwhere.

Most players move down the pitch as they grow up, from attacking roles into deeper ones, but Alli is on the opposite path. When Mauricio Pochettino first saw him play, back in the autumn of 2014, the 18-year-old Alli was playing in holding midfield for MK Dons in their famous 4-0 defeat of Manchester United in the League Cup.

When Alli arrived at Spurs Pochettino started him in midfield, as a number 10 or as an inside-left in his 4-2-3-1. This year he has moved up into a striking role, often playing nearly alongside Harry Kane in a system that is almost 3-5-2. Pochettino wants to make the most of his natural aggression, sense of timing and killer instincts. How better to do that than to play him up front?

That is why Alli has 15 Premier League goals already this season, 18 in all competitions, and it is not fanciful to suggest that he could finish the season with even more than Harry Kane, currently recovering from an ankle ligament injury.

Clearly Gareth Southgate has had the same realisation, which is why Alli is following similar path with England. In the autumn internationals Southgate used Alli in the number 10 role, even if that meant sacrificing Wayne Rooney from the job he had been doing for England over the last few years.

As soon as Southgate came into this job he knew that Alli was the man to build around. He had only played two games for the Under-21s, his rapid rise from the lower leagues leapfrogging him past so many academy players who get stuck at under-21 level for too long.

What Southgate sees in Alli is the same as what Pochettino sees in him: a very rare mix of athleticism, skill, speed but above all sharp instincts and courage. That is why he will be the driving force for club and country for years to come.
Click to expand...
A nice article and pertinent in many ways; except it isn't strictly true he shone for us in the Champions League and Europa given how turgid the whole team played
 
slartibartfast

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
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doctor stefan Freud said:
A nice article and pertinent in many ways; except it isn't strictly true he shone for us in the Champions League and Europa given how turgid the whole team played
Click to expand...
Agree that line is just utter bollox. Not knocking Dele but we were so shite I had tickets for all 3 home CL games and didn't bother going to 3rd one it was so poor. No one shining at Wembley. No one turned up let alone shined.
 
K

kmk

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Oct 5, 2014
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/mar/23/dele-alli-england-life-after-wayne-rooney

Dele Alli sparkles for England to suggest there is life after Wayne Rooney

Barney Ronay at Signal Iduna Park

@barneyronay
Thursday 23 March 2017 09.13 GMT
On a still, at times rather slow-burn night in Dortmund England did enough to win, ended up losing, but still looked in patches like a team feeling away at the edges of its new shape, exploring with interest some new post‑Rooney attacking gears.

By the end they had also received a lesson in how to win, in the importance of cold hard edge in between the grace notes. Lukas Podolski hadn’t really done much by the 69th minute of this match. He touched the ball thirty times in all, chugged about eagerly, perhaps looked a little puffed towards the end. But when the ball did finally arrive at his feet in just the right spot he took the game away from England, looking up, seeing the space in front of him and spanking a wonderful shot into the top corner past Joe Hart.

Signal Park had its moment, high point of a lovely if surprisingly vehement and committed night of celebration in honour Arsenal’s one‑time third choice striker, which ended with Podolksi being hurled into the air by his teammates to huge cheers, followed by an extended TV phone-in-gramme featuring Podolski tributes, Podolski family members, Podolski ultras.
The opening hour this friendly had threatened to be something else. Until then this was a night decorated by the fine movement and cute attacking interplay of Dele Alli, right.

The two make for an interesting comparison. Alli is a better mover, a more compete athlete a player of real grace and high ceilinged talent. Podolski, on the other hand, hasn’t really had a significant club football season for about six years.

Still, it isn’t hard to see why they love him here. With Germany he simply takes his moments. This was Podolski’s 49th international goal, a ride that has taken in that run of semi-finals and not-quites through to the catharsis of another world title in Rio de Janeiro. Podolski is in many ways an old-style German footballer, not the more recent academy darlings, those fancy soft-shoed technical marvels, but a ball-walloping moment-seizing German, a flashback to the Iron Mullet Years, all edge and match-turning bloody-mindedness.

What to do with those glimpses now? The most fascinating thing about England’s 3-2 victory in Berlin last year was the way the manager Roy Hodgson completely disregarded the key elements that made it happen, refusing to take a germ of that victory, the best of his time, and make it the basis for the summer tournament.
That day England played without Wayne Rooney, and with Harry Kane and Alli in close creative proximity, as they had been all winter for Spurs. All of which was simply thrown away come the summer, Rooney shoehorned into an under-geared midfield, Alli asked to play wider.
Gareth Southgate is nothing if not diligent. Even in defeat, and with chances missed, the manager will surely take an idea of how his budding attack might function. This was a refreshingly funky-looking selection all round. Friendly or not, the shape and the team worked for an hour.
It might just work again with a little patience in that pairing of swift, eager No10s, and above all little more edge.

If there is a lesson it is perhaps the need to take on a little of that edge. Albeit not the only one on a quietly encouraging night. This was at times a testimonial-paced game. Germany may have played like a team in a holding pattern for the opening hour. But England did find something new here, not least in a genuinely compelling first half for Alli, backed by another fine, hustling, silky performance from Adam Lallana.

Crumbs from the table perhaps on an underwhelming night. But whatever the occasion Alli looked a compelling footballer at times in Signal Park. He has a lovely strut to his movements whatever the opponent, a very obvious belief that he belongs on any pitch and in any company. Yes: in a friendly, and in defeat too. But this was still Germany, and Alli really he did play well here, creeping about the pitch with malevolent grace, and only lacking a finish when a clear chance came his way.

Signal Park is a huge reverberating space. At kick off its steeply banked stands were already rolling with waves of noise from all sides. England’s fans had been vigorously present in the city centre all day, running through their repertoire of ironical second world war references. Here they were crammed into a distant corner slice of the Park, but still bouncing and dancing and serenading the Queen, Jermain Defoe, the Pope.

Alli was sparky and cute in the early moments, often moving from inside to out and enjoying the willing, supercharged, rather wild movement of Jamie Vardy ahead of him.

Twice Alli was fouled holding the ball up in between the lines with his back to goal, spooking Antonio Rudiger into dragging him down. Popping up on the right he rustled up a lovely switch of feet to cut inside Jonas Hector, cradling the ball in his instep then flicking it past in a Ronaldinho-style slingshot action, the ball never leaving his foot.

Alli and Lallana: it looked a promising double act in those moments, a complementary meeting of running power and soft switches of feet, with Lallana always alive to the shifting planes around him. As the break loomed Alli should have scored. All three forward players pressed Germany’s backline and stole the ball. Suddenly Alli was all alone in a huge pocket of space. He hit the ball hard and low but too close to Marc-André ter Stegen.
 
Dharmabum

Dharmabum

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Aug 16, 2003
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-Mesut-Ozil-needs-Dele-Alli-s-nastiness.html

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil would be 'ten times a better player' if he had half of Dele Alli's nastiness, claims former Gunner Lee Dixon
  • Lee Dixon thinks Arsenal's Mesut Ozil needs some of Dele Alli's 'nasty streak'
  • Dixon was so enthused by Alli's potential he claimed his talent was 'unlimitless'
  • Fellow Arsenal hero Ian Wright agreed that the Spurs midfielder can go far
By Matthew Smith For Mailonline


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...eeds-Dele-Alli-s-nastiness.html#ixzz4c915KOxu
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Former Arsenal player Lee Dixon has said that Gunners midfielder Mesut Ozil would be 'ten times a better player' if he had Tottenham Hotspur player Dele Alli's attitude.

Alli has emerged as a key player for club and country by the age of 20, and played in England's 1-0 defeat by Germany on Wednesday.

Dixon was so enthused by Alli's potential that he made up a new word to describe him - calling his talent 'unlimitless' - and compared Ozil unfavourably with him.

Speaking as a pundit on ITV's coverage of the England game, Dixon said: 'If he's playing in the first team long term he is doing something right. The fact that he has come into Tottenham's first team and they are building around him, and now England, I think his talent is unlimitless.

'That streak within him is part of his drive to stay above everybody else. Ozil, if he had half of what Dele Alli has got, that nasty streak, he would be ten times a better player than what he is. He hasn't got what Alli has got.'

He wasn't the only former Arsenal hero to praise a player appearing for north London rivals Tottenham, with Ian Wright also praising Alli.

Alli's temperament has got him into trouble in the past - notably last month when he was sent off for a high tackle during Spurs' Europa League defeat by Gent - but Wright does not think he should change his game.

He said: 'I had a year with him at MK Dons, when I saw him playing in those games, even in training and the under-21 games I took him in, he had the determination, the drive. You could see he was going to do what he is doing now.

'He wants to play no 10. At some stage are we going to build a team around him? Or are we going to do what we have done in the past and put him over here and over there to get him in the team.

'That nasty streak was something I tried to encourage in him.'
 
mark87

mark87

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Nov 29, 2004
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Dixon isn't wrong, Ozil is an extremely gifted footballer with alot of natural talent for the game, but he's just too lazy and doesn't have a tenth of Alli's determination to succeed.
 
kaz Hirai

kaz Hirai

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Nov 5, 2008
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Would dele go to Madrid at 21?

Hard club to turn down, but I don't see it
Too young, and can't take Dier with him
 
kaz Hirai

kaz Hirai

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Nov 5, 2008
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Hengy1 said:
No chance
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go as far as to say no chance as earning 250K a week would make even a wealthy person like dele moist but yeah I do think it's highly unlikely that he'd want to leave just yet or that we'd entertain selling him at this transnational period.
 
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