Tottenham’s Dele Alli Banned for Final Three Matches

It is now official, Tottenham will play their remaining three fixtures without the services of Dele Alli following his punching incident with West Brom’s Claudio Yacob.

In not so shocking news, Dele Alli has now been banned for the remainder of the season after letting his emotions get the better of him against West Bromwich Albion midfielder, Claudio Yacob, during the 26th minute of an eventual one-all draw.

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Because Alli accepted the Football Association’s (FA) charge of a three-game suspension, his appeal on whether the punishment was deemed too excessive was ultimately dropped in the end.

According to a statement from the governing body, this is how the situation transpired (quotes via the London Evening Standard):

“Dele Alli will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after he committed an act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.”

“The player accepted The FA’s charge but contested that the automatic penalty of a three-match suspension would be ‘clearly excessive’.”

“This claim, however, was rejected following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today.”

A three-match ban for violent conduct is the norm after Crystal Palace’s Connor Wickham (now known for elbowing Jan Vertonghen) also received the same punishment earlier in the season back in January.

At the very least the England international realized that he was in the wrong with a tweet that he sent out earlier in the day after learning of his fate.

Now that this situation has finally been resolved, the focus will shift to Tottenham’s remaining fixtures, starting with a London derby against the defending Premier League champions, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge.

With a huge blow such as Alli’s suspension, this will not only worsen Spurs’ floundering title hopes, but Tottenham will now have to shuffle at least two of their three attacking midfield positions to accommodate the loss of their 20-year-old sensation and PFA Young Player of the Year recipient.

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But also, this could perhaps help Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff get through the England international at some point.

That way they can let him know when to “act nasty” without going overboard and when to stop with silly incidents like he has done throughout this season without getting caught until now.

And since Dele Alli has the joint-second worst disciplinary record for Tottenham in the Premier League this season with seven yellow cards in 33 league appearances, tied with Érik Lamela (Eric Dier leads the team with nine), this seems like a good time to work on his anger management.

Otherwise things will only escalate if he’s quick to react like he did against Claudio Yacob, when other players will start doing the same thing if need be.

Because forcing Tottenham to go down to 10-men by losing one of their better players not only makes it difficult for Spurs, but it becomes an easier game to manage for the opponents to win the game or simply draw.

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It’s not a fair tactic despite how smart it is, but again something needs to change and while Alli has vowed to come back stronger — as in learning from his mistakes — there’s only so much that he can do on his own.

This is where outside help comes in with Mauricio Pochettino, his coaching staff and the rest of the squad all letting Alli know that he’s a big part of this young Spurs squad moving forward. And him being absent hurts everyone, not just himself.