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.
What was not Great for Dele and Tottenham
Dele Alli was better than worse against Wolfsberger, but he was not perfect in his time on the pitch. None of these issues ultimately hurt Spurs on the evening, but they are examples of the kind of things José Mourinho does not tolerate and ultimately do not help the team.
Dele went down far too easy all night
Dele Alli takes a lot of abuse when he gets on the ball as many players do. Dele is often looking for that pressure and playing off of it. Some days this leads to fouls and others it just leads to a lot of Dele on the ground. Thursday was a day where Dele was on the ground far more times than he was fouled during the match.
In fact Dele committed more fouls – three – than he took – two. I am not accusing or saying that Dele dives, but he does need to work to stay on his feet more. In other words, he needs to be tougher to tackle.
If he is on his feet more and down less often, maybe a few of the calls he is not currently getting will go his way. Until he is back in the side and doing good things he should not expect to get the same calls he got three or four years ago, as he is not currently a star and should not expect that treatment.
Sometimes when Dele is not getting the call or when he is not getting the ball, we see his temper. I only can recall on instance where he really seemed to get on Son early in the match and then a couple of times where he gave a big glare to the ref. As a player who was on a yellow after a poor foul late in the first half, staring down the referee does not help.
Dele is not a player who will get these calls or always get the ball right now, he needs to stick his head down and keep playing.
Dele needs to finish the job
Never known as a player who played for 90 minutes under Mauricio Pochettino and in an attacking, pressing, running position probably should not be, Dele needs to play hard every minute he is on the pitch. While some of the lack of pressure in the second half was the switch of Vinicius and Son who are just different players, Dele did not help Vinny a ton either.
The pressure and press to get on the ball and cause problems through a bit of defense just seemed to disappear during much of Dele and the teams’ second half. That changed as some fresh legs came on. Again, Dele does not need to go 90, but he needs to keep pushing and doing the things that make him special or he simply will not be special.
Bottom line for Dele Alli and Tottenham
The bottom line is that Tottenham Hotspur need Dele Alli and frankly as a young professional footballer Dele Alli needs Tottenham. If Dele can work to consistently do some of the things that he flashed Thursday, which used to make him special he likely has a place in the squad moving forward. However, if what we get is half effort, dirty scowls, and poor fouls well Dele will be back in the dog house.
Our guess is that moving forward we will see the best from Dele as he knows now is his chance to get things right.