On Monday night, Tottenham star Dele Alli could well face Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup fourth round – live on talkSPORT.
A start will be a rare one for him this season, having fallen out of favour and then down the pecking order under manager Jose Mourinho and it could even be his last for the club with Paris Saint-Germain ready to snap him up.
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It’s been a real fall from grace for the midfielder, still just 24, who had been a mainstay for Spurs and key player in their title tilts and Champions League final run under Mauricio Pochettino.
On New Year’s Day 2017, Alli had north London rocking and it seemed like the sky was the limit for the England international, and early comparisons with Steven Gerrard might have even undersold his talent.
His two headed goals either side of half-time against Chelsea gave Tottenham a stunning 2-0 win over the Premier League’s table-toppers.
It seemed like it would never end, chorus after chorus of the chant which delighted Spurs fans. Hailing their midfielder and delighting in the fact he was signed at a bargain £5million and was now better than Arsenal star Mesut Ozil.
It felt like the love affair between Tottenham and Alli would never cease as his manager Mauricio Pochettino lavished praise on him too.
“He is the most important player to emerge in English football in recent years,” claimed the Argentine.
Alli would end the season with 18 Premier League goals and seven assists in an astonishing campaign where his partnership with Harry Kane hit ludicrous levels.
Two weeks later against West Brom, he would claim one of the assists of the season as part of a flowing Spurs move also involving Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen.
Alli linked with Kane and deftly flicked the ball over a static Baggies defence and allowing his teammate to fire home his hat-trick goal in a 4-0 win. It was glorious.
Arguably it was around the peak of Spurs’ brilliance, they had their moments in recent seasons of course, but in 2016/17 they were relentless in their pursuit of Chelsea but just couldn’t quite make up for early slips in the campaign.
They scored the most goals (86), conceded the least (26), lost the least (4), but draws – six in their first 11 matches – ended the dream before it started.
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The decline was slow to begin with for Alli, and the reasons manifold.
First off, it’s worth exploring the tactical changes for Tottenham, Pochettino in that sensational run, drifted between a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-3, both allowing the youngster freedom from the left to combine with Kane and Eriksen.
Gradually, as Heung-Min Son was introduced to the team, Alli began to move centrally, and as injuries hit the deep-lying midfielders Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele, and Eric Dier, he also was forced into more defensive duties.
The 2018 World Cup came and went with Alli a star, but not quite the force many hoped, drifting in some of the Three Lions’ clashes, although he did snag a goal against Sweden in the quarter-finals, an effort reminiscent of his two headers against Chelsea a year-and-a-half earlier.
But back at Tottenham, as Pochettino’s side failed to recapture the form of 2016/17, he tinkered in search of answers and Alli was the fall guy.
The arrival of Lucas Moura and the progression of Son, plus more injuries, the loss and failure to replace Wanyama and Dembele, and more tactical tweaks, saw him play in a midfield three, but in a box-to-box role, and also in a midfield diamond, further limiting his goal contributions for some of the campaign, which looked bad to neutrals.
Shunted around by Pochettino, who loves the player and his versatility dearly, Alli would also start to pick up injuries.
He missed 22 games in total as Spurs, somehow, made it to the Champions League final but Alli, his teammates, and Pochettino were in an inescapable tailspin which would result in Jose Mourinho taking over in November.
He tried to antagonise Alli into finding his form, and early signs were good, a display in Mourinho’s first game in charge, against West Ham, saw Alli steal the show.
There was also a marvelous goal against Manchester United which showed him at his natural best.
But soon he was, once again, in and out of the team and has barely seen the field in the Premier League since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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To associate his decline with the arrival of Mouriho is far too reductive, he started off superbly.
“He’s playing really, really, really well. I couldn’t ask for any more from him. He’s playing amazing, scoring goals, assisting, working, fantastic,” said the Portuguese after watching him star against Bournemouth in late 2019.
And he even realised what Pochettino was doing wrong as Alli lost form.
He added: “Every manager has his own ideas and we’re all different. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong, but for me, Dele is not a midfield player.
“For me Dele is not a player to play positionally in midfield.
“He is a player to be like he is playing, close to Harry (Kane), following some dynamics that we train but a little bit of freedom to associate with attacking players. This I think is the best position for him.”
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And Alli’s role being key is something Spurs legend Graham Roberts agrees with.
“Alli is a No.10 to play behind Harry Kane, and, for me, I don’t think they are playing him in his best position,” he told talkSPORT 2.
“If you go back two or three years he was scoring 15/20 goals a season, and that is the Dele Alli we want back. But unless you are playing him in his correct position then I think it’s hard for the lad.
“So, for me, I would NOT sell him. I think he’s a great player who just needs to get back into the right position as a No.10.”
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Even out of form he has his admirers at top clubs and Paris Saint-Germain, now managed by Pochettino, head the list but Arsenal legend Ray Parlour told talkSPORT he’d even take Alli at the Emirates as they look to add creativity to their ranks.
He said on the Sports Breakfast last year: “I don’t think Spurs would sell him to Arsenal; I think there would be uproar from fans if that happened, but he would certainly be a good fit for Arsenal.”
PSG is his likely destination, on loan to start with, and it’s no wonder, Pochettino really does delight in Dele.
He’s compared his charisma and personality to that of legends Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, while also appreciating the temperamental streak which helps create his unique on-field character.
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In a recent Sky Sports Monday Night Football segment, he said: “Dele was an amazing player for us; the hunger and the energy and the aggression.
“He was always on the edge of the line, so you needed to help him and tell him to be careful and take one step back.
And back in the 2017 interview he would coo: “[Dele] is a player with a lot of aggression in attack, ruthless and determined when he goes forward, which makes him extra dangerous. He understands the play very well and is a master at attacking spaces, he’s mentally strong and has confidence in himself.”
And everyone hopes Alli, whether it’s at Tottenham, or elsewhere, can recapture that confidence, because on his day – and in the right role – he’s a true game-changer.
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