Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli’s irregular form this season is only temporary and he is positive that he will be able to replicate the same level of play from his first two seasons with the north London club.
The 21-year-old had a sluggish start to his third campaign at the club but has recently begun to discover his best, picking up 4 assists and a goal in his last two Premier League games. This takes his tally to 8 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for Spurs this term.
Alli, who has faced a lot of flak in the first half of the season for not being effective in games, says it is nice to prove his cynics wrong but claims he is his own harshest critic.
“My form is not really something I think about too much,” Alli told Daily Mail. “But it’s always nice to prove people wrong.
“At 21 years of age when you set your standards as high as I did the last two years it’s not always the case that you’re going to be able to reach them all the time.
“Some people think if you’re not scoring or assisting you’re playing badly, but I criticise myself all the time. I always think I can do better, I can do more for the team so it’s just about working on myself and my own game.
“People’s opinions are changing all the time and you’d be more worried if the other fans liked you as a player. When your own fans start disliking you then it changes and you think about it a bit more.”
The England international was heavily criticised for a reckless challenge on Burnley’s Charlie Taylor last week, that saw him escape a red card but has suggested that he will not alter his aggressive nature in matches. Alli also was lucky not to be sent off for a high challenge on Kevin De Bruyne in the 4-1 defeat at the hands of league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad.
“We speak a lot,” added Alli. “People can say what they want. The tackle at Burnley you know we both went into it the same, the ref made a decision and that’s the way it is.
“These things happen in football, I think you’ve just got to focus on yourself every game and look at what you can improve every game and training session.”
Isn’t it unfair on our part to give Alli a lot of stick for his slow start this season? What’s your opinion?
