Dele Alli - Player watch

[wiggo24]

His drop off in goals is definitely in part down to where he plays. In his first 2 seasons he was mostly played right up top with Kane, almost as a second striker. He was a lot less involved in our build up, to the annoyance of some fans, but would pop up with goals all the time. Him and Kane had, statistically, the most effective partnership in Europe one season (combining to score).

This season Poch has elected to play Son or Lucas higher up, with Dele in a kind of half way house role, floating between midfield and attack. It works on occasion when he can be instinctive, like his amazing assists against Ajax, but I think he's pretty average playing in front of packed defences. He dawdles on the ball, runs down blind alleys and tries low percentage holleywood flicks that don't come off.

He's a classy footballer so Poch persists, but I think to get the best out of him we need to push him right up top again and let him rely on his brilliant natural goalscoring instincts. Hopefully some signings like Lo Celso and Ndombele who are fond of a forward pass can breathe a bit of life back into him.

Yep, don't think the switch this season to a diamond 4-4-2 has helped him at all. A return to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 with Alli linking with Kane would see him back to his best I think.

 

[arunspurs]

Dele has lot of attributes common to a striker than midfielder. He can make the runs like a seasoned forward, has decent finish, good in the air. Being involved in midfield build up play is not for him. Dele has to play very close to Kane in the XI or should be benched. Him being involved in build up play in Midfield is not working and our attack breaks down time & again.

May be time has come for him to assess what kind of player he is. May be time for him make a permanent switch to being a striker.

If we get Ndombele, Clarke & Lo Celso and we sell Eriksen, Lamela, Wanyama then I would like to see a midfield &attack of

Lo Celso, Ndombele, Winks,
Lucas, Kane, Son

with likes of Dele, Sissoko, Clarke on the bench. Dele's role being more like a striker than to replace anyone in midfield.

 

[jordibwoy]

He started for us deeper when he joined and played very well alongside Dier. He only moved forward due to injuries to Eriksen and Son.

He moved forward, because we went to the Emirates with him in midfield and Dembele as an attacking mid and the scum ran through our midfield at will. Poch switched Dele & Mousa about 30 minutes in and it changed the game (and how we lined up from therein). We battered them second half but Gibbs scored that late equalizer.

 

[felmani26]

Needs a good kick up the arse and some legitimate competition for his starting berth if you ask me.

 

[SUIYHA]

There were glimpses of the old Dele on Saturday's final, trying to run in behind the last defender and get into goalscoring positions, but they didn't really come off. People made a big fuss of Kane not looking fit, but if we'd actually played him in the deeper role where he had a bit more time on the ball and Dele as the more advanced player, running off him, I think we'd have seen better results, as we did in the second half - although to be honest we should really have started Lucas instead of Dele in the first place.

I think he is having a bit of an identity crisis and perhaps a loss in confidence. So one of two things will need to happen with him this summer.

• Option 1 - He/we accept he is not a De Bruyne/Silva type playmaker and never will be, so we change our formation to better suit his needs and play him in a more advanced role where he can try to influence games with his goalscoring ability more.
  
  
• Option 2 - He needs to spend the summer working on his creativity. To play better through balls. To spot longer range passes. To stop slowing the play down so much when we counter.

If he can't do either he'll have to be dropped and/or sold unfortunately. I'd really rather that wasn't the case as he's proven to be a devastatingly effective player for us in the past, but the way his form has dropped this season has been alarming. I know he's struggled with injuries of his own, but when Kane has been out you'd have thought it would have been the perfect opportunity for him to step up, but no, he only scored half the goals he scored last season and less than a third of the year before.

Of course, the drop in goalscoring comes with the caveat/excuse that he's been injured and played in a deeper role, but the fact is, the performances in the deeper role haven't been good enough. Hence why we either need him back up top, doing the things that made him a fans favourite in the first place (Option 1), or getting significantly better in the deeper role (Option 2). Without either of those two things happening, he is then set to join the likes of Lennon, Defoe, Huddlestone and Simon Davies as players who burst onto the scene, got massively overhyped by our fans, and whilst definitely being effective players in their time, never got close to fulfilling the massive potential they had in their late teens and early 20s.

There will be plenty on Poch's mind with regards to transfers, both in and out of the club, but the issue of what to do with Alli should be the number one internal concern for him this summer.

 

[punkisback]

There were glimpses of the old Dele on Saturday's final, trying to run in behind the last defender and get into goalscoring positions, but they didn't really come off. People made a big fuss of Kane not looking fit, but if we'd actually played him in the deeper role where he had a bit more time on the ball and Dele as the more advanced player, running off him, I think we'd have seen better results, as we did in the second half - although to be honest we should really have started Lucas instead of Dele in the first place.

I think he is having a bit of an identity crisis and perhaps a loss in confidence. So one of two things will need to happen with him this summer.

• Option 1 - He/we accept he is not a De Bruyne/Silva type playmaker and never will be, so we change our formation to better suit his needs and play him in a more advanced role where he can try to influence games with his goalscoring ability more.
  
  
• Option 2 - He needs to spend the summer working on his creativity. To play better through balls. To spot longer range passes. To stop slowing the play down so much when we counter.

If he can't do either he'll have to be dropped and/or sold unfortunately. I'd really rather that wasn't the case as he's proven to be a devastatingly effective player for us in the past, but the way his form has dropped this season has been alarming. I know he's struggled with injuries of his own, but when Kane has been out you'd have thought it would have been the perfect opportunity for him to step up, but no, he only scored half the goals he scored last season and less than a third of the year before.

Of course, the drop in goalscoring comes with the caveat/excuse that he's been injured and played in a deeper role, but the fact is, the performances in the deeper role haven't been good enough. Hence why we either need him back up top, doing the things that made him a fans favourite in the first place (Option 1), or getting significantly better in the deeper role (Option 2). Without either of those two things happening, he is then set to join the likes of Lennon, Defoe, Huddlestone and Simon Davies as players who burst onto the scene, got massively overhyped by our fans, and whilst definitely being effective players in their time, never got close to fulfilling the massive potential they had in their late teens and early 20s.

There will be plenty on Poch's mind with regards to transfers, both in and out of the club, but the issue of what to do with Alli should be the number one internal concern for him this summer.

I think he needs to refresh himself on how to do the basics, simple passing, keeping hold of the ball, tackling and shooting. The harder stuff will come later.

 

[Primativ]

He’s had a really poor season IMO.

Looks a million miles off being a top player / first 11 pick which is what we need in that position.

 

[ClintEastwould]

Unfortunately without the goals and assists he's become something of a nothing player

 

[matjcole]

Pretty harsh comments here. He was great until he was injured against Palace, and then has struggled. An awful lot of football since he joined. A proper rest, proper pre-season and then lets judge, but to say he's become a nothing player is ridic.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

When we signed him he had that Lampard-esque ability to suddenly appear in the box to finish a move.
Then Poch changed the system and started to play him deeper, something I don't think his attributes are suited to.
System (and personnel around him) has to be changed again if we want to see the best of him.

 

[wrd]

Unfortunately he's two seasons away from his best return in goals and assists, no matter what way you shake it that is a concern. I'm hopeful that it's down to the injuries he has had but also the other injuries we have had meaning he's out of position.

I also wonder if there's an argument to be made that Poch is trying to transition him so that he is a more well rounded player who offers more in pochs system during overall play and not just the final aspect but for me, Dele would really suit that Ronaldo Madrid role where he basically has that free role on the left wing to come in and make those devastating runs.

 

[double0]

Its clear Dele needs time to fully recover from his niggling injuries. We see too often him strapped up. He should drop out of the England squad with Kane and have complete rest. Competition too is another carrot needed no to push both Alli and Kane onto another level while not weakening the starting 11.

 

[nicdic]

Unfortunately without the goals and assists he's become something of a nothing player

Assists two of three goals in the comeback against Ajax, great player. Has a poor performance in the final (like most players) and he's a waste of space?

 

[JCRD]

He started the season well then had a dip then had an even further dip with the odd good standard performance eg Ajax away

Im not blaming him though, he is being sacrificed because of lack of squad depth. He isnt a deep lying maker but is being asked to do that role amongst other roles.

His best role is linking up with Kane and you know what? Kane also plays so much better with Dele just in behind playing those little through balls etc - bouncing off each other

We just need to get back down to basics and that im hoping will come once we land four or five signings.

 

[Kiedis]

Unfortunately he's two seasons away from his best return in goals and assists, no matter what way you shake it that is a concern.

I think it's only a concern as long as you still think he's playing as a second striker like he did for most of the 16/17 season. He had something like 10 goals and 10 assists last season in a somewhat deeper role, and has at times played even deeper this season. Taking into account constant chopping and changing of the team and him having had three hamstring injuries and a broken hand, I'm giving him a pass for this season.

And even this season, he's had many great games. And even in a season where he's struggling, he's been putting out some incredibly good defensive stats.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

Assists two of three goals in the comeback against Ajax, great player. Has a poor performance in the final (like most players) and he's a waste of space?

System change again between the two games due to Kane injury and return.
I don't blame Dele at all for his performances in a lot of the games, he's been a square peg in a round hole for quite a few matches in order to accommodate those around him.

 

[BillyWhizz]

Needs another chance to prove himself, he's previous form and potential totally warrants that. He started to look like his old self late last year then got clattered by Pickford and spent more time out. Any momentum was then lost and he hasn't been able to get it quite back yet and all whilst playing in a team full of out of form players for the past few months so understandable.

 

[pablo73]

He has definitely earned the right to be given another season to get back to his best but if his form next season is similar to this he will definitely be dispensable.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

What do people think his best position is?

 

[dontcallme]

What do people think his best position is?

Still think centrally behind the striker.

He is good in the air and at timing runs into the box.

Because of his physicality he can play deeper but he’s a limited passer and won’t get the best out of him there.