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Dele Alli

Spur of the moment said:
Getting worried about Dele's increasing tendency to try and take on three or four players rather than make an early pass to a team mate. Thought Neville got it spot on today in the game at the Emirates in saying that, rather than playing 'in the hole' he'd probably be better off dropping back deeper into midfield so that he can make those runs into the box on the blindside of defenders.

Playing just behind Kane there are inevitably going to be more occasions when he's confronted by two, three or four defenders so if he continues to insist on attempting to take them on then he's going to keep on coming a cropper.

Whereas I've noticed that whenever he has played deeper he always seems to really relish the challenge. He seems to prefer the chance to be that bit more involved and certainly has the engine for it.

Thoughts?
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Most of his success with us has come playing higher up the pitch, next to, and sometimes going beyond, Kane.

In that role he depends on the service he gets from the players deeper in the team. When we play poorly as a team Alli doesn't get the ball in many good situations and he looks fairly poor.

He has the ability to play deeper too. How he'll develop I don't know, but right now I prefer him further forward. But two of the midfield three being severely limited in creativity doesn't help him at all. Perhaps Alli deeper and Son or Llorente up front with Kane would be better in when midfield options are that limited.
 
braineclipse said:
Most of his success with us has come playing higher up the pitch, next to, and sometimes going beyond, Kane.

In that role he depends on the service he gets from the players deeper in the team. When we play poorly as a team Alli doesn't get the ball in many good situations and he looks fairly poor.

He has the ability to play deeper too. How he'll develop I don't know, but right now I prefer him further forward. But two of the midfield three being severely limited in creativity doesn't help him at all. Perhaps Alli deeper and Son or Llorente up front with Kane would be better in when midfield options are that limited.
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That's very true but my point is it looks like he may have changed his game recently. It's beginning to look to me like frustration is getting hold of him and impacting on how he plays.

We've often seen him gesticulating petulantly after making an intelligent blindside run into the box when others have either not spotted it or maybe in his eyes deliberately chosen not to get the ball to him. It's almost like he's now decided well if it's okay for you to ignore my runs then I'll do the same and take players on rather than slip the ball to you.

Appreciate this is all speculation- perhaps somewhat fanciful - on my part. As others have commented he is still young and we must expect spells when he's not at his best, but if the sort of thing I'm suggesting is in fact what's going on then it needs to be nipped in the bud as much for his sake as for the team as a whole.
 
Basically he's still kid finding his way? I didn't know which way was up till I was in my late 20's (I'm still working on it many years on.)
Cut him some slack! Of course till he next miscontrolls the ball. ;)
 
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scaramanga said:
There was a moment in the game where he had the ball on the corner of the goon box, surrounded by goons. Sissoko was square on the edge of the box in acres of space, not a player near him - a pass would 400% have resulted in a clear shot on goal. Alli turned into three players in order to see who else was available.

Now most would put that down as an Alli mistake, I think it's a shrewd and speedy analysis of risk and he took the better (but still very low percentage) option.
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I see you never miss a chance to have a dig at Sissoko, do you? o_O
 
Alli is a fantastic talent but he is still learning the game. I think this season he is tending to hold the ball too long, and try a dribble through the opposition even when he is outnumbered. Sometimes it works but more times it doesn't, and the defenders are expecting it now. He needs to mix up a bit - pass more and dribble less IMO.
 
Great play for Son’s goal. He reminded me of Kane the way he used his strength to get past the Dortmund player. And didn’t play for the nutmeg either.
 
Glenda's Legs said:
Great play for Son’s goal. He reminded me of Kane the way he used his strength to get past the Dortmund player. And didn’t play for the nutmeg either.
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Definitely a good chunk of luck involved, but then did really well with strength, close control and vision to set up the goal for Son.

That's the kind of thing his sometimes outrageous attempts bring. He can fail at that move for out of five times, it still sets up a very good chance one in five from a nothing position.

That will be high variance though. He will have steaks where things don't go his way, that's the nature of trying the outrageous.

His confidence to keep trying and his ability to get it right as often as he does makes him magic though. And he deserves a lot of patience in those periods where the ball doesn't quite bounce his way.
 
harr1984 said:
Not looked the same player since all this agent talk arose....
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With all the rumoured distractions currently surrounding such a young lad, I think it will understandably be up and downtime time for the lad on and off the pitch.
He's probably wondering which tutor would be the best to learn Spanish, Gareth's one sounded nice but Llorente said she's not so great!;)
 
I cant help feeling its all a blown out of proportion.

A little perspective will tell you he is a very young lad who has gone through an extraordinary rise, in a team rising with him, and that it was inevitable he would hit a flat spot.

IMO he is doing many of he always has, he is just missing an edge, a bit of luck, something...

And Im sure it will return. Thats what separates genuine quality players in development from others that never make that step up.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
I cant help feeling its all a blown out of proportion.

A little perspective will tell you he is a very young lad who has gone through an extraordinary rise, in a team rising with him, and that it was inevitable he would hit a flat spot.

IMO he is doing many of he always has, he is just missing an edge, a bit of luck, something...

And Im sure it will return. Thats what separates genuine quality players in development from others that never make that step up.
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Two assists yesterday, definitely a difference maker.
 
StephenH said:
With all the rumoured distractions currently surrounding such a young lad, I think it will understandably be up and downtime time for the lad on and off the pitch.
He's probably wondering which tutor would be the best to learn Spanish, Gareth's one sounded nice but Llorente said she's not so great!;)
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Yeah he's still a young lad and is going to fluctuate in form for sure....
 
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