England certainly have a strong line-up of young players coming through into the national team fold. The likes of Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, and John Stones are starting to show that there is life after the golden generation. Just when it seemed that replacing the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard would be to be difficult, Dele Alli showed that there is a viable alternative. Of course, Alli is not the finished product just yet, but he has already shown the kind of quality and versatility to make him a top-class international footballer.
Alli has been featuring heavily as an attacking midfielder for Spurs in the last few months. However, he is extremely versatile and has played in the wings or as a defensive midfielder. This versatility does pose problems when it comes to choosing Alli’s best position. It is clear that Mauricio Pochettino wants to use the midfielder in the central attacking position. As England step into yet another new era, the role of the 20-year-old for the Three Lions is certainly called into question.
Gareth Southgate recently took over the reins from Sam Allardyce after the former Bolton boss left after just one game in charge. Southgate looks like a temporary option for the time being, as England have been linked with exotic names like Arsene Wenger. The possibility of luring the Frenchman is extremely difficult and even if he comes, it may be well towards the end of the 2016-17 season. There is every possibility that Southgate could be in charge of the national team for almost half of the World Cup 2018 qualifiers.
His first match was a rather easy game against minnows Malta and England managed a comfortable 2-0 win as expected. Bigger tests will surely await Southgate, but he would be happy to get a win in his opening game. Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli managed to get on the scoresheet; the latter scoring is a major positive for the manager. Southgate later claimed that he wants to use Alli as a Number 10 rather than as a second striker. He said:
“I think number 10 is Dele’s best position. He’s a super link between the midfield and forwards and he is a goalscorer, that’s one of his strengths.”
Southgate believes that Alli is much better when it comes to linking up play. At Spurs, Alli has formed a terrific partnership with Harry Kane and former boss Roy Hodgson has tried to use this understanding at international level with limited success. Working on this aspect is likely to be a target for Southgate, and possibly for future managers, considering that England have a long list of quality centre-forwards even beyond Wayne Rooney.
Alli is almost certain to start as the number 10 when England face Slovenia on Tuesday night.
