Tottenham's Star Hitched to Dele Alli Once Again

That Tottenham and Dele Alli’s fates would be intertwined won’t come as much of a surprise to most, but the player’s form of late is making it especially evident.

Both pundits and Mauricio Pochettino will have plenty to dissect from Tottenham’s current four match winning streak.

After months of draws, what’s sparked the sudden vogue of winning? One could cite the return to health of Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld — even if the latter is only just working his way back into the side.

They could also point toward the resurgent form of Christian Eriksen and the revelation that is Victor Wanyama. Both players have certainly made their mark on matches.

Speaking more generally — and perhaps more cynically — one could say that Tottenham have been gifted a run of matches against less-than-formidable opponents. None of Hull, Burnley, Southampton and Watford put up much of a fight.

Running through the center, both literally and figuratively, of this positive run is one man however. Dele Alli’s scored five in the last three matches, including braces against Southampton and this weekend’s opponent Watford.

That run almost tripled the 20-year-old’s production for the season and took him close to his entire goal tally for the 2015/16 season. It seems clear that, baring an unfortunate injury, that Dele’s sophomore season with Tottenham will surpass his freshman year.

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While no one came close to suggesting that Dele be dropped prior to this hot streak, it was clear that the player was struggling to adapt.

Whereas last season he was a relatively unknown upstart, this season Dele is more often than not the focus of the opposition’s defensive efforts. None but the absolute best can shrug off that kind of added attention, so it stands to reason that it would take time for Dele to find his footing.

In truth, Dele’s quality shined through even when he wasn’t scoring. Though he was guilty of the odd wayward effort and missed a good many opportunities served to him, Dele was still shooting, dribbling and passing at a rate level to or better than last season. If he persisted and remained confident, the results would come.

It was a situation not altogether different than the one Harry Kane suffered through in the beginning of his second season as Tottenham’s presumptive starting striker. He was snatching at chances and couldn’t reclaim the spark from his 30 goal haul the season before. It took until November for his effort began to pay off.

Mauricio Pochettino perhaps learned something valuable from Kane’s experience. Better to let a player work through the kinks and find a way back to his previous exception form. Meddling or, worse, benching them will only delay matters.

So Dele remained in starting lineups and, through trial and error and perhaps even a spate of diving, found his way back to his previous confidence. These past fives goals came against relatively poor sides, but they are exactly what Dele needed regardless of the context.

The question poised by this piece isn’t about Dele individually though. It’s how his performance sets the tone for the entire team, and how his success so closely correlates with the team’s success.

Ever since his early days with Tottenham it was clear that Dele embodied several different aspects of the game. He wasn’t a playmaker in the mold of Christian Eriksen, a direct winger in the shape of Nacer Chadli or even a box-to-box wonder like Mousa Dembélé — though he was perhaps closest to the latter.

Instead, Dele is the kind of player that finds the rhythm of a game and plays along with it. If he’s needed in a deeper role, he’ll drop deeper. If Toby Alderweireld needs a target for a punted long ball, Dele will run into space. If a wide man sends in a ball to the opposition’s penalty area, odds are that Dele will be there to greet it.

Consequently, it’s often hard to pin down what Dele’s position even is in most games. Nominally he’s an attacking midfielder, but he spends just as much time in deeper positions or higher up the pitch than even Kane that such a label feels inadequate. His is a free role, one that the young player is preternaturally predisposed for.

That role defines more of Tottenham’s attacking philosophy than just about anyone else on the pitch. It creates space for others like Kane and Eriksen to operate while also being plentiful dangerous in and of itself.

Which isn’t to suggest that Dele and his role exist in isolation. As Sunday’s match once again proved, Kane is key to how well Dele can play his part. The pair teamed up for more goals than any other two players last season, and they are once again showing how and why they work so well together.

Next: Philosophy More Important Than Shape at Tottenham

Dele’s ability to fill the roles of creator, destroyer and auxiliary striker in the space of hardly a minute makes him one of the most spectacular components of Pochettino’s war machine. The sparks from Dele’s flame catch on those around him, leading to fluid and even more lethal displays.

The true test will come Wednesday when Dele and Tottenham face current league leaders Chelsea. Should the precocious England international can sustain this run of form, it would be all the more easy to believe that Tottenham’s pre-season presumptive title push is finally back on track.

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Tottenham’s Star Hitched to Dele Alli Once Again

By Ryan Wrenn | Jan 2, 2017

That Tottenham and Dele Alli’s fates would be intertwined won’t come as much of a surprise to most, but the player’s form of late is making it especially evident.