After moving to Tottenham from MK Dons, Dele Alli immediately adapted to life in the Premier League.
Scoring double figure goals in his first two Spurs seasons and an average of ten assists across the first three, Alli was on fire under Pochettino and looked set to be a mainstay at the club for the next decade and beyond.
Intermittent injury problems slowed his progression but as one of the favourites to benefit from the Mourinho regime, things haven’t quite gone to plan. So is there still a lot left in the tank for Alli or is his stagnation set to continue?
Quick sidenote, this is the third edition in this series, and the most high-profile player so far, so I’d appreciate you checking out the previous versions too if you have a minute:
Tottenham’s style
Jose Mourinho’s style is one of the most well known in football.
While he might be a little more expansive against smaller teams, tactically he is renowned for frustrating teams with compact defensive lines that sit closely together before countering with pacey, skilful wingers.
The formation is usually considered to be either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 with Son off the left and Bergwijn playing on the right. Harry Kane is given licence to roam and often comes extremely deep to unleash his incredible passing game and either bring other players into the game, put wide men in behind or simply give the side some reprieve when under pressure.
Sissoko and Hojbjerg, who has been a revelation since joining this summer, screen the back four, in which Eric Dier and Serge Aurier are particularly benefitting when compared to previous seasons.
The position that many believed Dele would thrive within, is the third midfield position, which often plays closest to Kane. However, this role has been sealed by the ever-more-impressive Tanguy Ndombele and a rotating Giovanni Lo Celso with Alli struggling to play outside of the Europa League, having failed to play 90 minutes in the Premier League yet this season.
Key traits
What can Dele bring to the side if he is to feature though?
Well, according to Mourinho, “Dele is not a midfield player,” which is quite interesting.
Nor is he a number 9, a traditional 8, or even a classic 10. Instead he seems to be more of a shadow striker, or even a false 9; someone who works back into the midfield a little but is rarely the spearhead of an attack.
What he does very well, is find space and score goals, which he has effectively done in the past when playing behind Harry Kane. Almost like a Thomas Müller-lite, it would be fair to describe him as somewhat of a ‘space invader.’ Whilst yes, he contributes to attacking move, his main goal appears to be to enter small spaces on the pitch or create a new one for himself by quickly shuffling the ball past players, something that Dele excels at.
With 50 Premier League goals he’s scored more than Wilfried Zaha, Freddie Ljunberg and teammate Gareth Bale, amongst others. He also has 33 assists in his Premier League career, often drawing defenders into the space he has located before slipping a carefully timed pass to the teammate he’s just made room for.
Another benefit he has is his strength when carrying the ball. It can be challenging to steal the ball from him, especially when running alongside Alli as he uses his body very well to shield the ball. Aerially he’s effective too, being a real handful for defenders, even give his fairly sleight frame.
Reasonable comparisons
In this section, I’d usually do some quick statistical analysis of Dele against similar players, and I will do that, but first it feels best to compare Dele against himself, both during and post-Pochettino.
Across all competitions Alli managed an impressive goal contribution (either a goal or assist) every 137 minutes with Pochettino guiding him, whereas under Mourinho this has dropped to every 152 minutes. This isn’t awful but its also worth noting that from this season to last Dele’s xG per 90 has dropped from 0.38 to 0.30 and his xA per 90 has dropped from 0.17 to a pitiful 0.04.
Dele just isn’t getting the minutes and even when he does, he isn’t able to leave his mark on games as he did prior to the 2018/2019 season. Before this term his xG was as high as 0.43 per 90 and his xA per 90 a much stronger 0.27 at his peak.
A player worth comparing Dele with, is another ‘attacking midfielder,’ Kai Havertz. Similarly to Alli he blends the lines between forward and midfielder and pinpointing their exact (or best) role can be a difficulty.
Both have struggled this term but looking back at last season they had a similar number of goals per 90, at 0.39 for Dele and 0.44 for Havertz, the former however did have a higher xG per 90 at 0.38 compared to 0.37, meaning Havertz made more of his opportunities.
They take a similar amount of shots each at just over 2 per 90 but somewhere they start to differ is in their passing game. Havertz achieved an xA per 90 of 0.30 last season compared to Alli’s 0.17 and per 90 the German made 2.12 key passes per 90 compared with the Englishman’s 1.11.
So Alli and Havertz are close competitors when it comes to scoring, but Havertz is a better and more creative passer. What both have though, is something you can’t measure, that little bit of magic that can completely change a game.
Look at his wonder goal against Crystal Palace, his first goal for England, his destruction of Chelsea in 2017 and influence in one of Tottenham’s greatest ever nights, the Champion’s league semi-final victory over Ajax. Alli, much like Havertz, has this innate ability to produce incredible moments on the football pitch and wing in tie in his side’s favour.
The downsides
The key problem for Alli however, is that these magic moments are growing lesser and lesser, and games can sometimes pass him by in similar fashion to that of former teammate Christian Eriksen, something that Mourinho will simply not allow for.
Mourinho’s style cannot afford any passengers and always requires the utmost concentration. So with Alli not being the best defensive player (unlike Lo Celso or Ndombele), nor being able to break a game as consistently as Kane or Son for example, there doesn’t appear to be an easy route back in to the starting XI for Dele. Plus, as mentioned earlier, Alli doesn’t exactly fit the traditional midfield roles you would come to expect, which makes it even harder for him to force a way in.
Then there’s the ever-looming issue of his injury history.
Still at just 24 years of age (if you can believe it, feels like he’s been around forever) Dele has missed 28 games in total for a number of different reasons. One of these is a hamstring injury, which has reared its head throughout his tenure. Having had these injuries so early in his career, there are some question marks over his body’s ability to keep up with the ever-growing intensity required for modern football systems.
Conclusion/What’s next
Of all of the players I have covered so far, I would say Dele has the highest ceiling, but is the furthest from his at present. He’s a player who, on his day, can be destructive and change the game in a split second but as his game time decreases, so does his ability to do this.
What he has to do then, is secure first team football and his best route to such surely lies away from Tottenham.
PSG seems the ideal destination. Under Pochettino he’ll be working alongside a manager whom he has excelled with previously and he won’t be expected to do as much defensive work, freeing him up to invade those important pockets of space at will.
Should he get back to his best, or very close to it, Dele could find that his star begins to rise again, and a return to the England set up for this summer’s Euros wouldn’t be entirely out of question. So no, Dele isn’t on the rise right now, but keep your eyes peeled for his next move, as it could be a make or break scenario for him.
Thoughts of Tim 