Dele Alli - Can he be the best for Tottenham since Hoddle?

Article by Jason @e_spursthailand

The headline suggests a massive, and I’m sure many will be screaming deluded/mad statement! Don’t be fooled into just the headline determining your thoughts.

I’ve been attending WHL on a weekly basis since my first trip in February 1976, right up until I moved to Thailand in 2007. Since then, I’ve still got over to the Lane for 6-10 games per season, and from November 2016, am back in the UK for the rest of this season. It’s fair to say, I’ve seen a few players come and go in my time.

I’ve looked back at the notable midfield players that have debuted and signed for Spurs since that first day in 1976, box-to-box midfielders, wingers/wide midfielders, attacking midfielders and number 10’s. Van der Vaart & Ginola in that time were standout players, fit to grace almost any Spurs side since the double but Ginola debuted at 30 yo having played over 400 games, and Van der Vaart was 27 yo and again over 400 club & country games into his career.

Looking back through, all the notable attacking players that have debuted since Hoddle at various ages include Villa, Galvin, Hazard, Chiedozie, Waddle, Paul Allen, Hodge, Stewart, (although came as a Striker), Gascoigne, Walsh (was he a Striker or a ’10'?), Nayim, Anderton, Barmby, Fox, Sinton, Ginola, Leonhardsen, Davies, Etherington, Poyet, Redknapp, Jenas, Reid, Lennon, Bale, Townsend, Mason, Kranjcar, Bentley, Van der Vaart, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Chadli, Lamela, Paulinho, Eriksen, Dele, Son. Some of those have changed positions since signing for us such as Dembele, some changed upon promotion from youth to first team but all essentially were for bought/promoted their attacking qualities. My apologies if your favourite is not amongst them!.

Stand out amongst youngsters who make list are of course Gazza (21yo) no words do justice to his immense talent, Barmby (18 yo) who at the time with us looked top class but left and went on to have a decent, not special career, Simon Davies (20 yo) looked a fantastic young player in the making until injuries took over, Lennon (18 yo) who in his early years was definitely a full crowd favourite, and even at the end had 60% on his side, and of course a certain Gareth Bale.

Gazza was of course 21 when he joined us, already noted as the top young player in the country, already a headline act after Vinny Jones had left him with a high voice after the infamous squeezing incident at Plough Lane. He’d already played 92 top flight league games when he joined, and in his first 2 seasons, 66 league appearances and 12 goals followed. The class, natural skill, impudence and potential was clear for all to see, he was providing match winning performances but even he had his down moments when he found man-marking difficult to overcome. The great shame was having become the global superstar, only 26 more league games followed after Italia 90. Unlike Bale, he had dragged up almost single handedly to a cup final, with an outstanding display scoring both goals at Portsmouth in the 5th round, scored the winner in the QF v Notts County, that never to be forgotten free kick in the semi-final v Woolwich, before the infamous injury early in the cup final with the horror foul that Forest scored from. He got us to Wembley, but his actions so nearly cost us the final, particularly if he had, as he should have been, red carded. It’s fair to say, he never reached the hights he had after leaving us that he had in his 112 Spurs appearances. I’m priviliged to feel I saw the best of him as a player.

Bale himself is the only player that debuted as a teenager for us since Hoddle that you could truly say became world class (and is still improving). In his early days, Bale still showed his potential, the bursting run and finish away at Fulham for example showed what was to come in his later years. He was often criticised by Redknapp who thought he was too soft, and he was certainly a player who supporters found timid and in need of becoming stronger physically and mentally. 1 year on from his debut, Bale was part of the infamous 2 points from 8 games team, having found himself in that 8th game sent off at Stoke in the 18th minute during a 2-1 defeat (Ramos’ final PL game). 18 months on from his debut, he was torn apart in a League Cup Semi-Final tie by Championship side Burnley at WHL (despite us winning 4-1) . He was dropped for the second leg as indeed was David Bentley who had been hauled off at half time in the first leg.

By the end of his second season, Bale had appeared in just 24 league games, of which we had won 0. It wasn’t until he was an 85th minute substitute at home to Burnley with us 4-0 up (eventually winning 5-0) he broke that run. He was not part of the match day squad that beat Wigan 9-1 later that season, and had it not been for Assou-Ekotto being part of the Cameroon African Cup of Nations squad in January 2010, plenty of rumours suggest Bale would have left that January window. Following Benny’s return from the ACN, he moved further forward as a left sided attacking midfielder, and his form improved, and he of course finally announced his importance with back to back goals against Arsenal & Chelsea, 70 games, 3 goals and almost 3 seasons into his Spurs career. The next 2 seasons when playing as an attacking midfielder, Bale scored some stunning goals, put in regular high class appearances, but those 2 seasons even then saw 23 goals from 83 appearances and still some below-par appearances. Redknapp was often the victim of “he plays on the left songs” as Bale would still have a few quiet games (as all players do). Of course, the number of assists was higher than his goals, we could play around him, and he could stretch teams like no other player in the PL at the time. The real superstar status, regular stunning match winning goals season came in his 6th season for us when he appeared many times to carry the team single handedly. That superstar status has continued and grown since leaving us, and there is no doubt that if he was in our team now, we would have become league champions, and I honestly think we’d be serious CL contenders now, (at least regular QF/SFs).

This now leads us on to Dele Alli. Just 51 league games (70 overall) and 18 league goals (19 overall), his impact in his first 18 months, is already in excess of even Gazza & Bale at their similar stage. He has forced his way into the national side quicker than Gazza, and whilst Gazza could dribble past players with ease, Bale could power his way past with pace, Dele despite not showing those qualities has overall shown more than even those 2 during the early part of his Spurs career. His personality, confidence and belief at this stage is far more like Gazza than Bale, but his game intelligence is already higher than Gazza’s.

It was abundantly clear even with his first goal at Leicester where he held his run to stay onside, despite the natural enthusiasm to score your first ever PL goal would have seen almost any 19yo run offside with too much eagerness. That ability to hold his run showed again in his Man U goal at WHL, and again at Southampton last week. Unlike Bale who eventually scored so many screamers from outside the box, his coolness and composure on almost every goal he has scored again defies his 20 years of age. Nearly all his goals, even his volley away at Stoke are passed into the net rather than lashed. His finish in injury time at West Brom again passed the ball into the only part of the goal WBA weren’t expecting him to put it. It was yet another side footed cool and composed finish.

His football brain was again evident at Watford when Kane scored his 2nd goal. If you have a chance to watch it again, he sees the cross, he sees Kane attack the ball, he sees Kane has taken the 2 Watford CBs with him, but unlike most 20 yo, and many experienced attacking players several years older, he doesn’t follow Kane in. He peels off to beyond the far post in totally free space where he has the chance for a clear shot at goal in the event the defender/keeper get a touch before Kane. So often he runs into the empty space an art that his intelligence allows him to do rather than through anything worked on just at the training field.

He has had a mixed season, but for me maybe only 1 really poor game, away to Man United. After scoring at Stoke, his performance v Man City was outstanding, scoring and genuinely winning a penalty (not diving), then came the West Brom equaliser. After missing the NLD through injury his return to the side saw him look short of fitness for a few games, and at other times when Dier was in the back 4 and Dembele was out, he played a deeper midfield role. This restricted his impact on the game, this deeper role meant he wouldn’t ‘press’ high up the pitch, and he wouldn't be able to run beyond Kane (he’d have left a huge hole in midfield had he done so), and of course like any 20 year old, he is entitled to some games where he is not at his very best. Even on his average/below par day, he was still having an impact on the game, still threatening the opposition and now, since Burnley we see the Dele Alli we know he is.

Gazza the great dribbler, Bale the powerful athlete with the ball, Alli the clever runs off the ball, all 3 different players, all 3 at Spurs with potential to be genuine world class players, in Bale’s case he really has become that, but Alli has had more impact in his first 50 games than either of those did. He may never go on to entertain like Gazza did, he may never go on to win 2 CL’s medals and be the world superstar that Bale has, but I honestly feel providing he avoids serious injury, if/when he leaves Tottenham (hopefully not for many years), he will by then have had a greater impact on Tottenham than even Gazza & Bale had, and the most of any attacking/creative midfielder since Glenn Hoddle.

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