On the latest episode of the Last Word on Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks, Jamie Brown, Lee McQueen and Daniel Merriman have been discussing the latest goings-on at the North London club and looking ahead to Thursday night’s fixture against Sheffield United.
One topic of conversation on the recent episode, which was titled: ‘Another Cup Final‘, was Dele Alli, and whether or not he should start against Sheffield United.
The former MK Dons man missed Spurs’ first game of the restart due to a ban, but was restored to the starting lineup against West Ham; where he struggled to have much of an impact, earning a disappointing 6.22 rating for his performance (per Whoscored).
Here’s what Brown had to say about the 24-year-old, and why he thinks he will start against Chris Wilder’s side on Thursday evening:
“I think Dele Alli will start. I think with [Erik] Lamela in that Manchester United game, it was frustrating. There were times when he got into really great positions.
“He just didn’t really have that killer pass and it’s all gonna be about unlocking Sheffield United on Thursday and I just question whether Lamela’s got that ability to unlock a defence.
“We saw against West Ham how well he did coming off the bench. So maybe that’s something that we save for later on, that energy of Lamela, he really comes out the blocks.
“We saw when he dispossessed one of the West Ham players later on in the game, then we went up the other end and scored. So maybe you’d save Lamela for later on but I think that Dele is a better technical player.
“I think he’s a guy that would be able to unlock a Sheffield United defence so for me, I think we’ll see Dele keeping his place.”
TIF Thoughts…
It will be interesting to see whether or not Alli keeps his place in the side against Sheffield United. Brown makes the point that the Englishman has more quality on the ball than Erik Lamela, which is perhaps backed up by the 24-year-old having registered 55 assists in 220 appearances (per Transfermarkt), whilst his Argentinian teammate has 47 assists in 216 appearances for the Lilywhites (per Transfermarkt).
Will Alli start against Sheffield United?
Yes
No
Spurs will certainly be hoping to pick up an important three points against an out-of-form Sheffield United side on Thursday evening, and as Brown points out, unlocking a Blades defence that has kept 11 clean sheets so far this season could prove to be a deciding factor in whether or not Jose Mourinho’s side can come away with a win.