Tottenham and England midfielder Dele Alli understands that there are “mixed opinions” about his aggressive style of play but remains adamant that he is not going to change.
Since moving to the North London club at the start of the 2015-16 campaign, the 21-year-old has earned a reputation for being a player with a short fuse, and he has been involved in a number of incidents during his two year spell at Spurs.
The midfielder was handed a three-match ban by the FA for punching West Bromwich Albion player Claudio Yacob in the stomach during the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane in May 2016.
Last season, Alli received a straight red card for a horrific two-footed challenge on Gent player Brecht Dejaegere in Tottenham’s Europa League clash against the Belgium side at Wembley Stadium.
The England international received a three match ban from UEFA and he will miss Tottenham’s opening Champions League group stage matches next season.
Speaking in an interview, as quoted in the Evening Standard, Alli admits that he regrets both situations and although he reveals that he is continuously learning from his mistakes, he does not intend to change his game.
“Things like the West Brom one, obviously after the game I regretted that straight away. It was one of those moments that I have learnt from and I’ve not done anything like that again,” he stated.
“There was also the challenge in the Europa League. I know it looked really bad and it was a really bad tackle but I know, myself, that I would never go out to hurt someone.
“I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about it but that’s the player I am and it’s been in my game every since I was a youngster.
“Maybe if I didn’t have that in my game I wouldn’t have achieved as much as I have done so far at this age.”
The Englishman appears to be learning as he only picked up four yellow cards and he did not receive a single red throughout the 2016-17 Premier League campaign.