On the latest episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks, TalkSPORT presenter Paul Hawksbee, Lee McQueen and Richard Cracknell discussed the latest goings-on at the north London club, looking back on the win against West Ham, and ahead to the Sheffield United fixture.
The recent episode, which was titled: ‘Lo Celso’s Magic‘, featured a variety of topics, including the performance of Dele Alli in Tuesday night’s 2-0 win against West Ham. The former MK Dons man struggled to have much impact on the game against the Hammers; contributing a 6.22 rating in what was his first match back after the enforced break, having missed the game against Manchester United due to suspension.
His disappointing display perhaps led to a discussion of his performance on the recent episode of the podcast, with Hawksbee suggesting that:
“We haven’t really talked about Dele Alli, again, he looked tired, he looked off the pace, it was his first game and he was frustrated – but how many times have we seen him go off the pitch in the last couple of seasons, kicking water bottles and getting frustrated with himself because he knows he’s just not quite up to the mark? It’s almost like he’s playing slightly with a handbrake on, stuff doesn’t come off. We know he’s a wonderful player when he gets it right, but he just can’t quite get his mojo back.”
TIF Thoughts…
Unfortunately for Spurs fans and Alli, he hasn’t been able to replicate his form from his first three seasons with the North London club, where he comfortably averaged above a 7.0 rating across the season (per Whoscored). However, he does have eight Premier League goals to his name so far this season, so perhaps he will be confident of reaching double digits in the top-flight for the first time since the 2016/17 season (per Whoscored).
Should Alli start against Sheffield United?
Yes
No
Certainly, his performance against the Hammers was not his best, however, it was his first game back after the enforced break, so perhaps it is understandable why he wasn’t quite at it. It will be interesting to see if he keeps his spot in the starting eleven for the important fixture against Sheffield United next week.