Young Tottenham star Dele Alli has admitted he struggled at the start of the season due to his Premier League opponents learning how he played.
The 21-year-old made his debut for Spurs at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign and rose to fame with an impressive 10 goals and 11 assists in 46 appearances in all competitions.
He has since bettered those totals with a stunning 22 goals and 13 assists in 50 outings in all competitions this season.
However, he has told he found it difficult at the start of the season with his opponents having got used to the attacker’s style of play.
“I don’t want to give anything away but I’ve had to think a lot more about my movement,” said Alli, as quoted by ESPN.
“Maybe last year the other teams weren’t used to me running in behind and weren’t expecting it, whereas this season they’ve got a little bit more used to it.
“I’ve had to time things like that a little bit better and, moving off defenders, I’ve got to be a little bit sharper with that and try to judge the ball a little bit better.
“I think at the start of the season I struggled a little bit in the first few games, because maybe I didn’t expect [opposition] players to be that used to me, so I had to change my game a bit. I started getting a little bit higher and getting a few more goals.”
Alli had scored just three goals in his first 15 league appearances for Tottenham this season and many were starting to wonder if the last campaign was a one off.
However, his form in the second half of the campaign helped Spurs go on an incredible run which saw them suffer just two defeats in their final 23 Premier League matches.
He played a key role in helping the north London club to a second placed finish and he was also named the PFA Young Player of the season for the second consecutive campaign.
He will now be looking to start the next season as he finished the last as Tottenham aim for their first Premier League title.