Dele Alli at Everton

[Guernman]

Mourinho is correct when he says the squad is like a puzzle.

I am sure Mourinho recognised De Bruyne's ability and certainly he recognises Dele's. But is it a mistake to move on a player, capable of greatness, in order to create funds or space to bring in someone who will actually fill an important gap in the squad?

I am a fan of Dele, but he is very much a luxury player for Mourinho, because he has to compromise the formation in order to fit him in.

Just as Jose's style of play will suit Kane and Bale perfectly, it really doesn't suit Dele.

I am very happy if he stays, but if selling him enables us to bring in a better quality of second striker, or improve on Winks/Sissoko in the middle, I would be all for that.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

Without trawling through pages of posts do we have any idea why Dele is being linked with other clubs? Jose seemed to love him, the players seem to love him, he seems to love Spurs. This seems very odd and out of nowhere.

 

[DiVaio]

 

[Hotspur33]

PSG would be an amazing move for him if he's up for it. Though I have to say he seemed really "at home" here in the Amazon doc so I imagine he may feel quite conflicted. Mourinho may well have said he's ok for him to leave if he wants to.

All those above saying Alii "need a kick up the arse" etc to get back to his best form, I personally disagree. Maybe that's part of it as Mourinho did point out his laziness in training, but I don't think it's because he doesn't care. I just think he has a very specific skillset that we managed to cater to for a while, but he just doesn't fit modern team shapes very well. When he was insanely effective we had an outrageously solid midfield two behind him, pace from son, and effectively a number 10 as well in Eriksen who was making us tick. And even then if I'm honest I think the reason we fell short of winning anything was a lack of pace in that front 4. If Eriksen was playing as a proper 10 behind Kane and we had another Son/Bale type I think we'd have been even better.

He plays as a second striker, and he does it incredibly well indeed. Play him there and build a team around him or don't bother. He's not a midfielder.

I disagree that he's not a midfielder.

 

[DaleMurphy]

I don’t want to see him go but I understand he doesn’t really fit into this system Jose wants to run. I would like to see him work to change up his game so that he does have a place.

 

[andy00900]

I'm guessing a reason we are seeing PSG linked to try and waver the sell on fee they have on Edouard but currently, Weghorst appears to be leading the striker race.

 

[spursfan77]

I just worry selling him comes back to bite us. If he’s on the market then all the top English clubs would be in for him because of his qualities and the HG. Unless we’ve said we’ll only sell abroad.

I still think if he worked at it, cut out the flicks and tricks he could play centre mid. He’s got the energy, closing down ability, passing, quick feet, can run all day and scores a goal. Maybe he lacks ball retention but that’s only because he always tries to be too clever. That’s easily rectifiable though.

 

[panoma]

I don't think anyone is going to offer the sort of money we'd consider.

 

[poc]

I would be gutted I thought and sorta still feel we were lucky to sign him he was such a talent but it’s like he did t push forward and has become easy to predict and defend. Still young enough to get back to top form imo. Wouldn’t even know what sort of value bracket he is in now. ?

 

[thebenjamin]

Feel sad about this. Love Dele

 

[spursfan77]

The other thing is, how long is Mourinho going to be with us. Sure he doesn’t fit into his formation but he’s still a useful player. Say we sell him, he does really well at his next club and then Mourinho goes in 18 months. We will look pretty stupid and I’m sure that will be in the back of Levy’s mind.

 

[Syn_13]

Feel sad about this. Love Dele

I like him as a character, seems like a good kid when you watch him in the documentary. He's just a typical young lad with a bit of swagger and arrogance but at heart isn't a dick. The issue I have is that he frustrates the hell out of me as a player. Never consistent, doesn't grab hold of the game or dominate it enough, goes out of form so abruptly after a run of good games.

He's a luxury player in a lot of ways. I don't know if we can afford that. When he plays we try to rely on him and you shouldn't ever rely on a luxury player. You want a Van Der Vaart or a Modric, someone who can deliver and even if they don't get on the scoresheet or provide assists you still get a shift and contributions out of them. Kane always works hard. Son tries but has off games, however when he's on it he's world class. Bale was like that at times. Moura and Lamela are similar in that they work their socks off but have questionable end product. Bergwijn is early days but may be similar to the above.

I guess we just can't have too many players like that, especially ones that we rely on to do a job when playing. Relying on Alli to do something when he's struggling to find form is frustrating. Having said this I would rather let go of Moura first.

I'm just not sure if we need Alli or whether Bale coming in and Bergwijn developing fills that. Plus an extra striker may give us more options and Alli gets crowded out.

 

[WinksyBoy]

His days seemed to be numbered. Which isn't a bad thing, he's been really poor for three seasons.

 

[winster]

Spot on. Jose is about the team, Dele is about the individual.

 

[Noryid]

Painful rebuild. Far too many got far too comfortable towards the end of the Pochettino Era. Mauricio knew it and we couldn’t move quick enough. Mourinho rightly offered a blank slate but I think he’s rooting out some of the culprits now.

WHAT HE SAID. Without especially mentioning Dele.

 

[curlacious]

Ffs Dele **sob**

 

[Derryank]

I'm guessing a reason we are seeing PSG linked to try and waver the sell on fee they have on Edouard but currently, Weghorst appears to be leading the striker race.

Was thinking this myself earlier. Sweeten the pot with Edouard....?

 

[TheAmerican]

Mourinho is correct when he says the squad is like a puzzle.

I am sure Mourinho recognised De Bruyne's ability and certainly he recognises Dele's. But is it a mistake to move on a player, capable of greatness, in order to create funds or space to bring in someone who will actually fill an important gap in the squad?

I am a fan of Dele, but he is very much a luxury player for Mourinho, because he has to compromise the formation in order to fit him in.

Just as Jose's style of play will suit Kane and Bale perfectly, it really doesn't suit Dele.

I am very happy if he stays, but if selling him enables us to bring in a better quality of second striker, or improve on Winks/Sissoko in the middle, I would be all for that.

I think Bale coming is the key piece to this argument. You can see how Dele can maybe transform to play on a wing spot in a 433, but Bale definitely can.

 

[The Scarecrow]

Wouldn't be against this if it gives us the funds we need to strengthen in other areas (Dias please).

 

[joey55]

To be honest, I've never been a total believer in Ali (or Allah). I just don't think he's a particularly gifted player (all relative of course, in comparison with players at top clubs). When he was scoring lots of goals, I accepted that he deserved his spot, as you can't argue with goals. But other than the timing of his runs, I just don't see what is so great about him, that SAF told Mourinho to sign him or for Harry Redknapp to say we should build the England team around him. I don't think he's a great passer, dribbler and he isn't fast, so I've always struggled to see how he can hold a place in a top side, when virtually every other top player in an attacking role, has at least one of those attribues.