Dissecting Dele Alli’s Day for Tottenham Against Wolfsberger

Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura scored. Gareth Bale was back and contributed a goal and an assist. However, for Tottenham Hotspur fans, the real player everyone wanted to see show out was Dele Alli. While Dele was neither great nor terrible in his 78 minutes, he did show some of both the talent that made him great and some of the frustrations that have limited his time under Mourinho. HotspurHQ breaks down what Dele Alli did right and what did not work so well during the attackers time on the pitch.

Dele Alli Showed Flashes

Part of the problem for Dele Alli this season has been one of position where Dele is neither really a striker or midfielder, playing more of a second striker role to Harry Kane under Mauricio Pochettino. Now that Tanguy Ndombele has dropped deeper in the midfield and Giovanni Lo Celso is out, that means Dele Alli has to get the call as Erik Lamela is not indestructible.

Dele does a few things really well, one is having excellent timing to run into the box at dangerous moments. Another is a flair of creativity and connected to that is the attitude that Dele brings to the pitch, both of which help provide a bit of an edge the rest of the team often lacks. While Dele was not great, he show a little of all these things.

Dele can still find space in the box

The timing of a run out of the midfield into the box is a truly under appreciated talent. Dele Alli has been one of the best at this over the last decade. Whether running in off a play from the striker or sprinting in to get in on the end of a long ball, when on Dele is excellent at both.

On the first goal Spurs scored, the play actually started with a long ball from Toby Alderweireld going diagonally into the box to Dele Alli. The young attacker went up in the box and won the ball playing a one touch chest pass to Heung-Min Son. Son’s shot was blocked, but that blocked shot was recycled by Lucas Moura into Spurs first goal, which started from a Dele run into the ox.

There was another almost moment later in the match when about 72 minutes in Dele somehow was behind three defenders and just could not quite bring down the ball with the outside of his foot over his right shoulder. It would have been highlight reel stuff for certain and provides a nice blueprint for how Spurs should be using Dele, making those runs off of others into the box for himself or someone else to shot.

Dele still wants to do something spectacular

Sometimes in baseball always looking for the homerun means you miss the easy single and the team struggles to score. Other times, waiting for that homerun is the best chance a team has. While Dele does his part in the flow of the offense, his game is making a mark with a goal or an assist, often in unexpected ways.

Dele played a couple little chips in the box which did not work, but showed him thinking beyond the normal to make something happen. One moment did almost come off for Spurs as Dele played a little roller backheel pass to Gareth Bale in the box. Unfortunately, Alexander Kofler was able to get down and palm Bale’s shot wide of the post and deny the goal and Dele and assist.

That same desire to do something people will remember almost got Dele a goal as he got to a ball on the left side of the box and managed to nutmeg the defender to get in on goal. Whereas Bale later went for power from a similar angle on the opposite side and scored, Dele went for five hold.

The thing is, Dele’s shot did successfully skid through Kolfer’s legs for the second straight meg – a Dele Alli specialty – but the ball caught the back of his left heel on the way through and deflected out away from the net. It was another almost moment for Dele. Hopefully the kind of missed moment that keeps him hungry.

Dele Alli needs the right attitude for Tottenham

Ultimately one of the things that both makes Dele Alli great and can make him quite a liability is that little chip on his shoulder to do something naughty and brings some attitude. Before VAR this might mean the occasional accidental step on someone or little kick on the way by. In the day of VAR those moments are not possible, so you have to find other ways to get in there.

Dele did two things of note in this regard. First was when he fouled Kolfer early in the match going for he ball in the box. Kolfer had just caught the ball as Dele’s foot hit the ball and it came loose. The Englishman was trying to pounce on the ball as the whistle blew and he turned with that what did I do look.

The other place we saw some of Dele’s attitude was in the press, particularly in the first half in concert with Heung=Min Son. Dele was not often the winner of the ball in the press under Pochettino, but his effort on the press and length in closing out angles helped to create more chances at the next level for players like Christian Eriksen to pounce.

That same thing can be true now for player like Pierre Hujbjerg if Dele is given an extended look. Dele did well closing angles and playing with and off of Son to apply good pressure throughout the first half. For much of the half Wolfsberger struggled to get out of their own end, this was because of that pressure up front. Of course while this pressure was good, not everything from Dele was.