Difficult road back for Dele Alli under Jose Mourinho at Tottenham

It’s almost impossible, once Mourinho has you in his crosshairs, to make your way back into the gaffer’s plans, a cold fact Dele Alli is finding out at Tottenham 

Whether you like it or not, Alli has become a peripheral figure at Spurs, a club where just a few years ago he was being touted as one of the world’s best central midfielders. That seems like a lifetime ago. Against Stoke midweek, Alli made his first start since Nov. 26, his performance again drawing polarized feedback.

Countless supporters backed Alli’s outing, even voting him as player of the match. But the only man with ultimate influence and authority was incensed by Dele’s contribution to Stoke’s equalizer early in the second half.

Alli is not the first, nor will he be the last, player to commit an error that led to an opponent goal. He is, however, feeling the full wrath of Jose’s unrelenting condemnation. Fair or not, Jose has lost his trust in Dele. And it will take a gargantuan sustained effort for Dele to get back into Jose’s good graces. We’ll find out whether the 24-year-old has the character and resilience to return to his former years of glory in North London.

Mourinho mainly takes issue with Alli’s purported lacklustre work ethic. The Portuguese gaffer needs his players to commit wholeheartedly, regardless of the cost. He needs his players to pour their souls into the cause, to show through grit and determination what it means to don the Lilywhite.

Dele earned his legendary status at the club in his early 20s, his ascendancy to greatness occurring it what seemed like the blink of an eye. But the opportunity for him to rise to prominence again is quickly fading at Tottenham. Mourinho continues to publicly chastise the ostracized midfielder, merely exacerbating Dele’s current plight.

I hope Dele proves the gaffer wrong and revitalizes his career in North London. Though, under Mourinho’s hard-love conviction, I fear the worst for Dele, whose, albeit deserved, inflated ego has taken a bruising in recent months. His confidence is undoubtedly at an all-time low, a crippling affliction that, without the right handling, can have irreversible, permanent repercussions.

Supporters still have Dele’s back.

Somehow he needs to find a way to use Mourinho’s critical words as a galvanizing force. Everyone affiliated with Spurs wants to see Dele back to his old glorious self in a Spurs shirt, as anything else is an inconceivable notion to accept.

We’ll have to wait and see whether he can overcome the enormous obstacles in his way, and overcome the gaffer’s current stance on the most improbable of outcasts.