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Something is going horribly wrong with Dele Alli and José Mourinho
Tony Cascarino
Tuesday September 15 2020, 12.01am, The Times
When José Mourinho took over at Tottenham Hotspur last November, people were quick to hail the rejuvenating effect that he appeared to be having on an out-of-form Dele Alli. That seems a long time ago. Something has gone horribly wrong between the two of them and I believe that Alli is fighting to save his Spurs career.
The 24-year-old suffered the embarrassment of being taken off at half-time during Tottenham’s woeful defeat by Everton on Sunday. Mourinho said the substitution was “tactical” — I don’t believe that for a moment.
Mourinho substituted Eric Dier after 30 minutes of a Champions League game against Olympiacos but then went out of his way to almost apologise to the player for the humiliation. I don’t believe that’s going to happen with Alli. The manager took him off because he is unhappy with him and Alli knows that. He may even think that he is not wanted by José.
Alli has lost the faith of three managers during his career
Alli burst on to the scene as a teenager when he joined Spurs from MK Dons. In 2017 he was being lauded so highly after his two-goal display against Real Madrid in the Champions League at Wembley that knowledgeable people in the game said he should leave Spurs for the Spanish giants — he was that good.
He’s still young but in 20 games this year Alli has scored only two goals. There has been a massive decline in performance and he is at the point where he may almost have to start his career all over again. He just does not seem the same lean, agile, graceful player. He runs differently and is more filled out and robotic. The hamstring injuries will have had an effect because he will have spent more time doing gym work, but it has been detrimental.
He has also lost the faith of three managers: Mauricio Pochettino had been dropping him before he left Spurs, he was omitted from the England team by Gareth Southgate and now he has lost favour with Mourinho.
The Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing revealed that Alli was called a “lazy trainer” by Mourinho when he met the Spurs squad for the first time and, after Sunday, I suspect the relationship has soured further. If the pair hadn’t had heated words already, I’m sure Alli would have spoken out in the dressing room, having been taken off after 45 minutes. There is conflict there and I’m sure Alli won’t take it lying down.
Tottenham’s troubles are not all down to Alli, of course. It used to be said that to be coached by José was a huge thing for a player’s developement. Not any more. He has failed to make one player in that squad better than they were under Pochettino
Mourinho accused his side of not closing down quickly enough against Everton but they are too slow to be able to do it. Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Dier, Toby Alderweireld, Harry Winks and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are, for me, six of the slowest players in the Premier League. If that is not addressed soon, I see this decline continuing
Tony Cascarino
Tuesday September 15 2020, 12.01am, The Times
When José Mourinho took over at Tottenham Hotspur last November, people were quick to hail the rejuvenating effect that he appeared to be having on an out-of-form Dele Alli. That seems a long time ago. Something has gone horribly wrong between the two of them and I believe that Alli is fighting to save his Spurs career.
The 24-year-old suffered the embarrassment of being taken off at half-time during Tottenham’s woeful defeat by Everton on Sunday. Mourinho said the substitution was “tactical” — I don’t believe that for a moment.
Mourinho substituted Eric Dier after 30 minutes of a Champions League game against Olympiacos but then went out of his way to almost apologise to the player for the humiliation. I don’t believe that’s going to happen with Alli. The manager took him off because he is unhappy with him and Alli knows that. He may even think that he is not wanted by José.
Alli has lost the faith of three managers during his career
Alli burst on to the scene as a teenager when he joined Spurs from MK Dons. In 2017 he was being lauded so highly after his two-goal display against Real Madrid in the Champions League at Wembley that knowledgeable people in the game said he should leave Spurs for the Spanish giants — he was that good.
He’s still young but in 20 games this year Alli has scored only two goals. There has been a massive decline in performance and he is at the point where he may almost have to start his career all over again. He just does not seem the same lean, agile, graceful player. He runs differently and is more filled out and robotic. The hamstring injuries will have had an effect because he will have spent more time doing gym work, but it has been detrimental.
He has also lost the faith of three managers: Mauricio Pochettino had been dropping him before he left Spurs, he was omitted from the England team by Gareth Southgate and now he has lost favour with Mourinho.
The Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing revealed that Alli was called a “lazy trainer” by Mourinho when he met the Spurs squad for the first time and, after Sunday, I suspect the relationship has soured further. If the pair hadn’t had heated words already, I’m sure Alli would have spoken out in the dressing room, having been taken off after 45 minutes. There is conflict there and I’m sure Alli won’t take it lying down.
Tottenham’s troubles are not all down to Alli, of course. It used to be said that to be coached by José was a huge thing for a player’s developement. Not any more. He has failed to make one player in that squad better than they were under Pochettino
Mourinho accused his side of not closing down quickly enough against Everton but they are too slow to be able to do it. Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Dier, Toby Alderweireld, Harry Winks and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are, for me, six of the slowest players in the Premier League. If that is not addressed soon, I see this decline continuing