Dele Alli at Everton

[Amo]

Is he a victim of what he's been asked to do all these years? Poch's style in the first three years allowed for Dele to be a free range chicken but we aren't that team anymore.His good performances during Mourinho's time have been based on moves that mirrored our mid-term Poch style of play.

When he has been asked to do different (not only different to Dembele's time but different to his ostensible "natural" position before that too) his form has dipped.

His lack of positional discipline is apparent but is it all his fault?

This is even when assuming the claims of relative decline vis a vis the rest of our squad are actually correct. I think they're exaggerated.

 

[carpediem991]

Is he a victim of what he's been asked to do all these years? Poch's style in the first three years allowed for Dele to be a free range chicken but we aren't that team anymore.His good performances during Mourinho's time have been based on moves that mirrored our mid-term Poch style of play.

When he has been asked to do different (not only different to Dembele's time but different to his ostensible "natural" position before that too) his form has dipped.

His lack of positional discipline is apparent but is it all his fault?

This is even when assuming the claims of relative decline vis a vis the rest of our squad are actually correct. I think they're exaggerated.

But if Dele can only perform good when he is given a free role then you need to think if you can allow having that in the current system or if he is worth changing the system to his strenghts. If not he is no more a good fit for the current squad. As hard as it sounds.

 

[GutBucket]

Is he a victim of what he's been asked to do all these years? Poch's style in the first three years allowed for Dele to be a free range chicken but we aren't that team anymore.His good performances during Mourinho's time have been based on moves that mirrored our mid-term Poch style of play.

When he has been asked to do different (not only different to Dembele's time but different to his ostensible "natural" position before that too) his form has dipped.

His lack of positional discipline is apparent but is it all his fault?

This is even when assuming the claims of relative decline vis a vis the rest of our squad are actually correct. I think they're exaggerated.

Son, Lo Celso and now Kane all adapted to different things, Tanganga played 3 positions last season and did mostly fine (not great at LB), Davies is playing well as LB and WB, Sissoko changed his position and role couple of times. If Dele can only play one very specific role and needs everyone else to acomodate him then it's just not worth it.

 

[fortworthspur]

IMO, the problem with Dele is mainly that he wants to occupy the same place in the team as Sonny. Early on, he frequently started and Sonny came off the bench. That has now turned around and Sonny has proven himself the more reliable asset. Apart from that role there isn't an obvious place for him now unless we have an injury crisis. If we could get a big fee and use it to strengthen in key areas I'd be OK with him going.

he's a forward, not a midfielder. Hes usually been asked to play midfielder the last couple of seasons. I cant believe he cant get a start over Moura but Moura is Jose's boy. Even with all the talk about poor form he scored more goals than Moura last season in fewer appearances.

 

[adamsky]

I think he should stick around and fight Ndombele for the last position in midfield. Tanguy looks like he is making steps in the right direction and his potential is huge, but he is a long way off making that position his own. If Dele can adapt and play that position too we suddenly have two very good options and means we won’t need the Winks/Sissoko partnership again.

I would love to see what a manager like Pep would do with Dele, he would get him to cut out the sloppy passes and play to his strengths. We all know he is still a top player capable of being a match winner.

 

[tototoner]

Excellent post.

It is. Blaming our poor form since Jan 2019 on Dele is just following the media's agenda

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Well this is pretty conclusive.

 

[wrd]

It is. Blaming our poor form since Jan 2019 on Dele is just following the media's agenda

Let's face it, a documentary where we don't get the full story had Jose in only his first 2 days of training say Dele is a bit lazy and that'll be the stick he'll be beaten with for the rest of his time with us. Never mind that that only came up in Jose first week of training, never mind that Dele has consistently been one of our hardest workers on the pitch and we have all the running stats to prove that as a fact. It'll always go back to that documentary bit. Obviously he has been dropped and that might be attitude, poor performance or shit in training whatever it is, let's hope it's a rocket up his ass and he gets back to his best but irrelevant of whether he does, it'll always go back to the documentary.

 

[14/04/91]

Right now it appears he needs to learn how to adapt and develop his game, otherwise it could be that Mourinho will not see a place for him in the starting XI/his favoured system. And he's the boss.

He needs to forget what he's done in the past, how good he was at times under Poch and that he was an England regular. Surely being dropped by club AND country must resonate?

I do fear that players like this have a degree of personal success and think they've done it. He expects to start as a no10 just because he's Dele Alli, not what he's doing at this moment in time.
The game has been littered with players that fall away and never recover.

And this PSG talk won't help him, in my opinion. It could just add to his attitude that he's right and Mourinho (and Southgate) are wrong.

 

[St José Dominguez]

I think that there is so much focus on every intricate part of his match performances right now. He’s always had a slightly awkward first touch, he’s always dallied on the ball. He’s always attempted to beat a man and often been unsuccessful. If you watched his performances from when he was apparently in the form we want him to back to I think you’d be shocked how many of the things he gets slated for now he was doing then. I think the judgment from fans on him is entirely goals related, if he scores it means he’s played well if he doesn’t it means he’s been useless.

Personally I think ever since he joined he’s needed to have it drummed into his head to release the ball quicker, I really hope if he does stay that we can finally get him doing that. His movement is fantastic and he is a consistent goal threat. He needs to adapt his game and be workable as a LF or RF.
I’ll be happy if he stays. I really like him but now is that crossroads part in his career, it’s up to him.

 

[dagraham]

Jose just needs to put the fire in his belly again, if that means him getting dropped. So be it. Jose/we need the arrogant, annoying **** Alli we saw 3 years ago. Not this timid plank he's turned in to

We need the Dele that couldn’t understand how to make baked beans. Far too domesticated now.

 

[Spurs 1961]

I have confidence that Dele is good enough to adapt and develop his game. However trying to turn him into a player who fits your very short term system is not the same as using a persons ability and making the most of it to the benefit of the squad ... and it is a squad game.

 

[canadacelt]

He's doesn't have the form to start in any meaningful games, will have to earn his spot via good sub appearances and starts against lesser opposition. He's regressed while the team has evolved around him, it's going to be very hard for him to be a regular starter now given the talent around him. If he's looking to be a starter, he's probably best going elsewhere, if he's happy to contribute as a squad player and train hard, he's great to have in the team.

 

[St José Dominguez]

I have confidence that Dele is good enough to adapt and develop his game. However trying to turn him into a player who fits your very short term system is not the same as using a persons ability and making the most of it to the benefit of the squad ... and it is a squad game.

Career wise I think he needs to adapt his game no matter what the current system is. If he did leave in the future he’s going to struggle to find clubs who play with a second striker. The vast majority of top teams these days play 433 or 4231. Whether it’s a wide forward, a number 10 or a number 8, he has to focus on attempting to be successful in that role otherwise his career could easily fizzle out.

 

[ralvy]

As it stands, we can get a 25 man squad

CTHG: Kane, Bale, Winks.
u21: Tanganga
ATHG: Hart, Doherty, Sessegnon, Dele
The 17: Lloris, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Reguilón, Højbjerg, Sissoko, Gedson, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Son, Lucas, Lamela, Bergwijn

We already need to ship out Foyth. Obvious contenders elsewhere are Lamela or Lucas for a forward as those two plus Son, Bergwijn, Bale is OTT on the flanks, and Aurier for a CB because Tanganga is more likely to get minutes at RB than CB anyway, especially if we sign a CB.

Dele and Sessegnon, if they’re loaned it’s to help their development because our bloated squad and also our formation means their minutes will suffer, so I doubt we’d look to replace them, we’d just have a 23 man squad instead of 25.

Rose is irrelevant to any discussion as he’s probably going to get released and paid off Adebayor style if no club signs him by the end of the window, with the pay off contingent on nobody signing him for free before next summer.

Gedson probably should be on the list of likely players to leave. He rarely forms part of the matchday squad these days, and he's occupying a loan spot (unless we decide to trigger the buy out clause to make room for another loaned player).

 

[Mattspurs1982]

From the amazon Doc - Dele really seemed like he's where his mates are, he's part of a family and probabvly didnt fancy having to go abroad and leave friends behind so decided its time to sort himself out or find himself isloated, lonely and without much support if he has to go somewhere like PSG to prove / save his top-end career

 

[mil1lion]

He will always struggle if we're not getting control of the ball in midfield and sitting too deep. The deeper he plays the more he struggles. I actually think there's times where he needs to swap with Kane and let him do the link up play. Similar to Keane pushing on more and Berbatov dropping in.

 

[TheAmerican]

Three years of bad form? What is this, it's like every few days we add another 6 months of bad form. It's madness.

He's not been where he was previously for the past two seasons. There was a flash last year, that faded basically as soon as Kane got injured. Before that, there were multiple injuries. He got injured at the World Cup, rushed back for England, then rushed back for us with no break. Then picked up more injuries.

It's also worth bearing in mind the context, not just for him but all of our players. The 18-19 season, despite heroics in the CL, we were poor. After Dembele left the team struggled, Eriksen's head was gone, numerous injuries again, worse and worse football. Sissoko and Winks becoming the mainstay of midfield. This then continued into last season and then add in the manager change, injuries and covid, it isn't surprising that many of our players, not just Dele have had a two year period that hasn't lived up to previous performances.

You can't just look at his performances in isolation, when you're comparing him playing in a settled team with Dembele behind him, and Eriksen alongside him, to Sissoko and Winks. Of course he's going to struggle.

Sorry to single out your post, @WOTspur, just think the poor form thing is far too simplistic and reductionistic a way to look at it.

Even when in a settled team he mostly roamed and provided attacking ability. We have shifted to a 433. He doesn’t provide the defensive contributions nor passing ability to play in any of the midfield 3 and he doesn’t have the pace to be on the wings. He just doesn’t fit the “puzzle” as Jose put it.

He doesn’t seem to have a place for us right now. My saying that isn’t madness or over simplistic. The teams tactics would need to change to bring provide him with the conditions where he was his best.

 

[Stamford]

Regardless of his form he has to contribute more in games overall. Even in games when he does something magnificent such as Palace away he went through that game as a passenger for large periods. He has all the qualities so its up to him.

 

[Timberwolf]

I think this is a good thing as he's needed to be dropped for a while. It's never good when a player is allowed to continually underperform and there's no threat of them losing their place in the team.

This is now make or break for Alli - he needs to knuckle down and prove that he's worth a place in the side. He could actually be a really useful player off the bench if we need that special something up front - especially if he has fire in his belly and a point to prove.

Still think our best 11, and the required system to play it, doesn't have a place for him, though.