Conversation Corner: Tottenham Clinches Fourth Place After Beating Southampton 2-0
Tottenham central midfielder, Dele Alli
Spurs TV: Okay with Dele. Dele, excellent 2-0 win, a win we needed. And the performance was outstanding.
Dele Alli: Yeah definitely. You know after last week’s result, I think all the boys knew it was important that we turn it around and left here with the three points. And thankfully we did, you know we worked hard.
I would say — definitely say — that we played better than that through the whole length of the game. But, I think the first 20 minutes were a bit slow and you know they sort of went on top of us, but as time went on we found our rhythm and found our style of play and kept the ball. And thankfully the first goal came and not so soon after, that the second one came.
STV: I say, I mean the goals put us in charge of the game didn’t it. And from there, it was such a professional job really, they didn’t trouble us in the second half did they?
DA: Yeah definitely. You know, after last week when we went 1-0 up, we knew it was important to get the second goal and kill the game off. Like… I think that was the problem last week. But you know, we worked on it hard and we worked on the training pitch hard.
And when we got the first goal we knew we couldn’t settle in, we had to keep working. And we got the second goal in; we could sort of defend a bit more and be patient. But we still kept looking for the third goal.
STV: I mean your goal came from a counterattack from Kyle. We did look dangerous on the counter, they looked like we could open them up a bit.
DA: Yeah definitely you know all the lads is, you know, were like I said, was hungry for today. We worked really hard and was prepared to fight. And we did that you know, and we had the chances to break and it was a fantastic ball by Kyle.
And we had a bit of a laugh after you know saying I didn’t come to celebrate with him. But we were too far. And he put it on a plate for me and it was a great ball and you know it was the last goal of the day.
STV: You mentioned about, you know, that hunger and I mean what has it been like at the training ground this week? Because we lost to Newcastle, it was a blip, but we haven’t lost since the first day of the season in the Premier League. It must have been tough for the lads, but you certainly got your edge around it.
DA: Yeah definitely. You know it was a hard result on the day, you know it was a tough defeat to take especially with a run like you said. But you know it’s important that we worked hard on the training pitch and everyone knew that you know. We had to put it behind us and work on the negatives and work on it for the next game and I think we did that. And you know like I said before, we’re just thankful we could leave with the three points today.
STV: And you got a rousing reception from the fans as you went off.
DA: Yeah. I can’t thank them enough. You know they’ve been fantastic with me the whole way through. And they really helped us today to keep pushing us up until the end of the game and you know they really sang their hearts out today. So safe journey back to them and Merry Christmas.
Up next is manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Next: Manager, Mauricio Pochettino