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Dele Alli

Raziel said:
Mate, it's all opinions, but two things

- Lo Celso is a Copa America winner that played alongside Messi, Dele can't even get into a brick England midfield
- Pick your 11 out of current Spurs squad and show where you play Dele (and what role)?

I'm all for giving Dele a chance to rediscover something, but don't confuse the guy that worked hard yesterday with the guy that scored 22 goals 4 seasons ago (he's gone).

An English player breaking through at early 20's and not pushing on to their potential is not a new story, it's all too familiar. the new story would be if Dele ever actually turns it around.
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Dele playing behind the front guy.
Lo Celso not for me.
Bergwijn not for me.
Would love to see NDombele get a chance but………
 
StephenH said:
Dele playing behind the front guy.
Lo Celso not for me.
Bergwijn not for me.
Would love to see NDombele get a chance but………
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We played a 433 yesterday so there was no guy off the front man. It remains to be seen if that is the system going forward but after Nuno's interview it does suggest that this is the somewhat the shape we will be playing going forward.
 
I don't see why Dele cant reinvent himself as the hard working midfielder we saw yesterday.
He disappeared down a rabbit hole of fancy flicks and tricks, but he is clearly unhappy at last season's form and looks determined to show a new side to him.
I'll be delighted if he proves all the doubters wrong............
 
Issue for me is that his speed of thought isn't quick enough in CM. If he can somehow speed up this then he might have a future in the position.

Further up when it's all instinctual he's not going through the thinking process just reacting to situations.

It's like Sanchez, with the ball at his feet you can actually see him thinking about what to do while getting closed down.
 
thfcsteff said:
I think the biggest thing is WE need to adapt OUR perception of who he is. He is quite clearly playing different type of game to that of 3-4 years ago. BTW he still popped up in the box between defenders a couple of times and a better ball in would've seen him with a clear chance.
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There's a really good Statsbomb analysis when was originally getting criticised for scoring/assisting less. They went into how he'd gone from being one of the best attackers to one of the best pressers in the league. Unfortunately the lowest common denominator stats shown by the likes of Sky don't cover the more in-depth stuff like this.

Edit:
Found it - https://statsbomb.com/2018/12/dele-alli-progress-depends-on-the-unreasonable-man/
 
Bishop said:
We played a 433 yesterday so there was no guy off the front man. It remains to be seen if that is the system going forward but after Nuno's interview it does suggest that this is the somewhat the shape we will be playing going forward.94637
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Yes 433 yesterday worked a treat.
but I think they’ll come a time when we need a Dele to give us the quality and vision upfront. Pace is great but you need more than that against the packed defence we will encounter.
 
scaramanga said:
There's a really good Statsbomb analysis when was originally getting criticised for scoring/assisting less. They went into how he'd gone from being one of the best attackers to one of the best pressers in the league. Unfortunately the lowest common denominator stats shown by the likes of Sky don't cover the more in-depth stuff like this.

Edit:
Found it - https://statsbomb.com/2018/12/dele-alli-progress-depends-on-the-unreasonable-man/
Click to expand...

Great stuff, thanks for digging it out

I do wish they went into some more analysis on the impact on the change (e.g. his goals, does the team do better with him in which role, etc.)

It really looks at first glance (perhaps similar with Eriksen, Lamela, Bergwijn and even Lucas) like this modern pressing, work rate brick is killing flair and stifling the offensive upside of players.
 
StephenH said:
Yes 433 yesterday worked a treat.
but I think they’ll come a time when we need a Dele to give us the quality and vision upfront. Pace is great but you need more than that against the packed defence we will encounter.
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I agree but I think we need better than Dele for that role.
 
StephenH said:
Yes 433 yesterday worked a treat.
but I think they’ll come a time when we need a Dele to give us the quality and vision upfront. Pace is great but you need more than that against the packed defence we will encounter.
Click to expand...
Said this before repeatedly, but Dele hasn't really had a real run as a box to box midfielder in a 4-3-3.

It was either as a #10 being very successful or a lot deeper with less success.

I think a position like this could suit him. He would need to pick the basic pass/move more often, particularly when deeper, do his job defensively like he did yesterday and get forward into the final third often enough to produce the magic.

The first one is surely all about Dele being willing to adjust, I think he can. To me it's that final part that's the real question. Depends somewhat on the other players in the trio, particularly the other box to box player. If that is also a player that wants and needs to get into the final third to thrive, not so sure. Someone like Hojbjerg, I think it can work. GLC or Ndombele, maybe, they would have to do more of the deep playmaker role.

Particularly in games we dominate more one of the box to box players can easily be asked to get forward quite a lot. See Gundogan for City at times last season for example.
 
StephenH said:
Bergwijn imho is just pace nothing much else. I just don’t think he is anywhere near as good Dele around the goal. Yesterday was one way playing and mainly depending on pace and counterattacking play, we will need a Dele to open up more static and dogged defences.
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StephenH said:
Dele is must to in our attacking endeavours. Bergwijn is just pace not a good footballer long term.
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Dele had his best game for a couple of seasons i agree, but i can not agree that Bergwijn is all about just pace. He frightens opposing players to death and i have not seen Dele do that for a long time.
 
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