Realistic Expectations for Dele Alli in His 1st Season at Tottenham Hotspur

His long-term future with Tottenham Hotspur sealed, Dele Alli's loan back to Milton Keynes Dons in February could not have gone much better.

The Dons missed out on the League One title, but a final-day 5-1 hammering of Yeovil Town ensured automatic promotion ahead of Preston North End. It was a near-perfect way to say goodbye to the club where Alli learned his trade.

The 19-year-old's focus is now firmly on making an impression at his new club. A challenging prospect but one not without hope in his first season as a top-flight player.

Shortly before the conclusion of Alli's 2014-15, this writer assessed what a good pre-season could do for setting up the teenager for a good start to his Tottenham career.

With the midfielder's new international team-mates making staggered returns throughout the summer, there should be ample opportunity for him to catch the eye of head coach Mauricio Pochettino and potentially against some strong opposition, too:

Alli is not alone among the club's healthy contingent of young players looking to convince in the coming months that they are ready to play first-team football.

"I want to take this mentality into next season, to be around this team and try to stake my claim," another 19-year-old midfielder in Harry Winks told Spurs' official website after impressing in recent post-season friendlies. "I need to keep working hard and stepping up everything that I’m doing now. I’ll work hard and try to get into the first team squad."

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Pochettino's encouragement of his youngsters to compete with each other and senior players is what encouraged Alli to join Tottenham in the first place. The Football League Young Player of the Year will not have it easy, but the knowledge he will be fairly evaluated means there is an entry point.

"When you go, you don’t want a manager that’s not going to have any trust in young players," he said of his new boss in April, per the Mirror's Darren Lewis. "I think with him you can see already that he has a lot of faith in youngsters and I think as a young player you need that, just for confidence in yourself. You need a manager that believes in you and shows that he believes in you by playing you."

If a good pre-season and his manager's openness to reward it gives Alli a good start, naturally it will be informed and subsequently furthered by his own ability and experience. Speaking not long after his player's summer move was announced, MK Dons boss Karl Robinson was adamant the England youth international has what it takes to succeed at a higher level. Per the London Evening Standard's Mihir Bose, he said:

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He’s six foot two, a natural eight and there’s something about him: tremendous athleticism, tenacity and drive. He does most things. He’s ready. He has 13 goals and five assists, above any 18-year-old this League has seen. He also dominates games at an international level for his own age.

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Robinson also "told him he’s still got plenty of work to do," via ITV.com, but it is apparent how highly he thinks of his now-former player. Alli finished the campaign with 16 goals and nine assists, as tallied by ESPN FC. Even at a lower level, that is impressive for a player so young.

Obviously rated highly by Spurs, too, Alli will have to prove he can handle, and flourish in, the demands of Pochettino's aggressive but ideally eye-pleasing system. But translating his skill set and production to the Premier League could give the club something not so evident from their numerous other central midfielders (bar, perhaps, the more advanced-positioned Christian Eriksen).

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Robinson described it as "tenacity and drive"—taking the game to the opposition and even leading the charge forward.

Players such as Nabil Bentaleb and Mousa Dembele have the ability to do this but not always the urgency to summon it (though, at 20, that might emerge in the former's game). Ryan Mason is not afraid to push forward but is not so adept at making as much of it when entering the final third (though his excellent assist for Danny Rose's goal against Hull City shows there has been improvement).

It might be asking too much for Alli to immediately displace these players. But if his summer's work is sufficient to earn him a look—likely in the Europa League group stage and/or the Capital One Cup—this is where he can offer something not so prominent in Pochettino's first year in charge.

Also, as Harry Kane showed last year, the mixed standard of competition in these tournaments provides good opportunities to test yourself on a decent-sized stage.

From there, Alli may still have to bide his time for league starts. It depends on the form of those aforementioned players Pochettino already knows and possibly further unforeseen changes in the make-up of his midfield.

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But if the hype and the hope in him proves justified or is hinted at becoming so down the line, it seems there is plenty on Alli's side to enjoy a first season at Spurs where he at least sees some involvement.

In the aforementioned Evening Standard piece, Robinson said Pochettino was scheduled to visit Milton Keynes to find out "what makes Dele tick and what he needs to do." Alli later spent six weeks with Spurs as he recovered from an ankle injury during the season, per the Dons official website, so he should benefit from a head start on life at his new club.

Health and fitness permitting, it is now up to Alli to make as much as he can of his Tottenham experience.

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