3 Areas for Dele Alli to Improve on to Become a Tottenham Hotspur Great
Dele Alli is a few rapidly passing weeks away from closing out a remarkable first top-flight campaign. Whether his second-placed Tottenham Hotspur side win the Premier League title or not, it has been a season to remember for the ex-Milton Keynes Dons player.
With his England exploits adding to a burgeoning profile, Alli, 19, has deservedly come to be regarded as one of the country's brightest talents. An all-round midfielder whose daring qualities are well served by impressive tenacity.
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Tottenham fans will hope a thus-far mutually beneficial relationship between Alli and head coach Mauricio Pochettino is maintained for years to come. If it carries on as it has begun, the extraordinary young star has every chance of earning recognition as a Spurs great—an achievement improving in the following three areas will help him go some way to realising.
With little to critique technically in Alli's game, these suggested improvements firmly revolve around mental and overarching aspects. The kind that are not easily held up to scrutiny without considerable work sustaining their foundation.
Make Sure He Channels His Aggression in the Correct Way
More than once this season, Pochettino has been required to comment on an Alli outburst—a moment of misplaced aggression or petulance that threatened to undermine he and his team's efforts.
The most notable earlier example came in the 4-1 win over West Ham United in November, when Alli squared up to Mark Noble after the Hammers skipper fouled Harry Kane. The choice resulted in a booking and suspension for the following game with Chelsea.
"He has a strong character and has fight inside him always," Pochettino said afterwards. "But the thing like this, football is experience and to live this experience and ensure for the next time he is more relaxed."
By and large, Alli has not been overcome by the red mist. Performing professionally while still summoning from the same source of (seemingly) fearless determination to energise adventurous forward runs and defensive interventions that have become quickly familiar to Spurs fans.
Former Tottenham captain Ledley King this week described it to MailOnline's Adam Shergold as "a healthy disrespect" of opponents.
Still, these occasional flare-ups—such as his kick out at Fiorentina's Nenad Tomovic in the UEFA Europa League—serve as a warning.
Things have largely gone well for Alli and Spurs this season. Incidents like the ones mentioned have been momentary misjudgements informed by minor aggrievement.
Tested by more stressful occasions and switched-on opponents looking to provoke him, however, they could become disruptive if he is not careful.
So long as Alli keeps these outbursts to a minimum, they should not be a problem. He has every intent of channelling these fighting instincts in the right way.
"Aggression is an important part of my game and also you can't let opponents think you are some 19-year-old kid they can push around," he told Sky Sports' Geoff Shreeves ahead of Sunday's visit from Manchester United.
Stay Smart and Do Not Mess Up Off the Pitch
In the piece describing their meeting, Shreeves was highly complimentary of Alli.
Praising a "rare combination of supreme confidence without a single trace of arrogance," he also noted the youngster's own belief Tottenham team-mates like Eric Dier can keep him on the right track.
Not causing himself any unnecessary problems is an obvious but no less important prerequisite to Alli's potential success in north London.
There have been no indications he is liable to so far. He does his job well, and any off-the-field publicity has been limited to commercial/promotional activity and generally mundane messing around with team-mates (see below).
Pochettino does not appear to be concerned about the stresses of the job affecting Alli, describing him as "very mature."
"He manages the pressure and the popularity, to be a senior player and play for the national team. I think he is very calm and I have no issues about that," the Spurs manager said.
Keep Doing What He is Doing and Prove His Consistency
"He is probably the best young midfielder I have seen in many years," Sir Alex Ferguson said of Alli in a recent interview with Sky Sports (h/t the Manchester Evening News' Alice McKeegan). "Probably going back as far as [Paul] Gascoigne."
What felt notable about the comparison was not that Ferguson had gone back to Gascoigne—overlooking the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and his own player Paul Scholes—but that putting Alli in the same category as the Tottenham and England great did not feel like an overstatement.
Alli has just been that good this season.
Following his stunning goal against Crystal Palace in January (see above), this writer posited it would not be long before the teenager was compared with Gazza. Such penchant for the outrageous combining with already-solid production numbers and impressive versatility bringing to mind the best of arguably English football's greatest-ever raw talent.
Of course, Alli is not yet the finished article. Though already influential, he is not experienced enough nor quite suitably positioned in his current advanced role to run games in the way Gascoigne could (see his work in Spurs' successful 1991 FA Cup run). In his prime, the latter proved he could deliver every season, too.
The aforementioned suggested improvements for Alli are not brought up lightly. They are in areas that Gascoigne struggled with to damaging effect.
The rashness of his '91 cup final challenge on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles (following an unpunished one earlier in the game on Garry Parker) hurt both players' careers. The subsequent layoff for the Spurs man contributing to off-field struggles he is still battling against.
It is why Alli—as much as he can—must stick to the path he is on.
Pochettino had no qualms in agreeing with Ferguson's comparison to Gascoigne. Keep doing what he is doing and, with a little luck, there is no reason Alli cannot make even more of his own talent.
All being well, Tottenham will hope they are the ones to benefit.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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