Three Things for Tottenham to Like about Dele’s Performance

Dele Alli made just his second start in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur Thursday evening against Fulham FC. While Dele did not finish the match, coming off for Lucas Moura just short of 70 minutes, the young attacker did enough in his hour to warrant more playing time. Here are three things about Dele Alli’s game that stood out to us and should garner him more playing time moving forward.

Dele did Dele Things for Tottenham

There was no juggling volley goal, nor was there a bicycle and apparently not even a goal according to the Premier League, but Dele did what Dele does in these 67 minutes against Fulham. It took the 24-year-old attacker a few minutes to get started but he certainly left his imprint on the game on both ends of the pitch and was the difference in the victory.

It was good to see Dele start as the lad getting minutes was one of our keys to success. Whether it was deflecting balls towards the goal, sending crosses for shots, or making a tackle, Dele did a bit of everything for Tottenham in the win over Fulham.

Dele’s Aggression was good

At his best Dele is a pest defensively which can often lead to opportunities for himself and others. Dele was continuously the spear in the press during the first half of the match alternating with Harry Kane to apply that first wave of pressure on the ball. Admittedly, Spurs looked better in the first half, mostly because Fulham looked worse as they struggled to deal with the pressure.

Dele pressured both on and off the ball and managed two interceptions. Additionally, he had four tackles and was routinely running from box-to-box. Whether trying a back-heal to Gareth Bale or running hard to close out defensively, or pressuring Arioela to make an acrobatic save, Dele had good aggressive intent.

Dele kept his feet and his cool

Dele Alli did a good job in what was a rough and tumble London derby of keeping his feet and his cool. There were a couple of different occasions, whether it was a hard tackle in or the lack of a call on Kane in the box, or being called for what a soft foul Dele and company could have lost focus. Instead of whining to the referee, the team played on. Spurs have been known to lose focus from time-to-time and did not do it against Fulham.

Part of Dele’s success in keeping his feet was his ability to find just enough space and time to be effective. Whether it was working to play strong through some physical play or moving to find space, or simply not dwelling on the ball Dele kept his feet. Basically, if the opposition does not have the chance to tackle you, it is hard to go down. Dele did well to play smart and fast on Thursday and it led to solid play.

Even on the goal where Dele miss-controlled the initial pass upfield from Bale, he did well to quickly gain control and get the ball forward to Son on the outside. Son of course crossed into Dele for the goal but it was not dwelling on the ball after a poor touch that kept the play alive.

Goal or not, Dele still has the instincts to score

If Dele did not deflect the ball Tosin would not have been able to score the own goal, to begin with, but apparently, the deflection was off target, so own goal. Regardless, that well-timed run to the front post to meet Son’s cross and cause the goal is a perfect example of the kind of play Dele brings to the team.

Only a few players on Spurs have the instinct and nous to make that run. We saw Gareth Bale make it against Burnley. We know Harry Kane can make it and we just saw Dele do it. Lucas Moura for all his running and hard work does not make that run. Erik Lamela and Giovanni Lo Celso do not make flashing runs into the box. For a team looking for other goal scorers to help carry the load, runs like Dele had to produce the game-winner, show what he brings to the table.

That run for the goal was not the only time Dele made a sprint in to try and get behind and connect with the service. That desire, ability, and of course timing to find the ball is one of the things that makes Dele Alli special. Tottenham needs goals from other places and Dele Alli is a proven goal scorer and even if the League did not grant him the goal, he proved it again Thursday night.

Now does all this lead to more starts for Dele, that remains to be seen but the one thing we know is he did what he does and it won the game for Tottenham.