Speaking on Jim White’s show on TalkSPORT on Friday morning, Martin Keown took aim at Jose Mourinho for his apparent treatment of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli.
So far this season, Alli, who has made 228 appearances for Tottenham since joining from Milton Keynes Dons in what was a £5.97 million deal back in 2015, has made just six out of a possible 15 appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side, playing a total of 243 minutes.
As a result of this lack of game time, much has been discussed about the midfielder’s future at the club, with reports suggesting that the £46.8 million-rated 24-year-old could be on his way out of north London in January.
However, speaking to White on TalkSPORT on Friday morning, Keown criticised Mourinho for his treatment of the England international, stating his belief that the 57-year-old should be treating Alli with more respect.
He said: “I don’t like the way that Dele Alli has been treated and the [Instagram posts] that have been made public – where [Mourinho is] taking photographs of himself saying, ‘Look at me, I’m upset, I hope the players are upset too,’ I don’t think it’s necessary. Why make it public?
“Dele Alli, I think, could be shown a bit more respect, and I never would have thought that someone like Mourinho would go to social media to create a point with his players.”
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TIF Thoughts on Martin Keown’s comments regarding Jose Mourinho’s treatment of Dele Alli…
From Keown’s comments, it is clear the pundit is of the belief that Mourinho’s treatment of Alli has not been acceptable, and that the midfielder should be afforded more respect by his manager.
However, if Keown is referring to Mourinho’s Instagram posts, as far as we can see, the Portuguese boss has not singled out Alli at all on social media, with one of the only negative posts in recent months coming after the side’s defeat against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League – however, this was about the team’s poor performance in general, rather than Alli in particular.
So, despite the fact that Mourinho has referred to Alli as a lazy trainer in the past, we are not overly sure what Keown is getting at with his point regarding the 57-year-old being disrespectful to the midfielder on social media.