Jose Mourinho slams Dele Alli after Stoke City clash
As reported by the BBC, Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has slammed midfielder Dele Alli for his performance in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals against Stoke City.
Tottenham defeated the EFL Championship outfit 3-1 on Wednesday night to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. However, it was far from easy for the Lilywhites.
Gareth Bale put the team ahead in the first period, but the Potters equalised through Jordan Thompson in the 53rd minute. Late goals from Ben Davies and Harry Kane got us over the line at the bet365 Stadium.
Stoke’s equaliser in the second half came about after a mistake from Alli, as the England international conceded possession leading to a counter-attack. And Mourinho has slammed the 24-year-old for putting his team in such a position.
“A player in that position is a player that has to link and create and not to create problems for his own team. In that situation, an objective counter-attack would probably end with a goal, and it ended with a counter-attack behind our defenders.
“We were unbalanced because when you are in possession you have full-backs out wide and another midfielder in a different line and they caught us in a counter-attack and they transformed the result of the game that was totally in our hands, so yes I am upset.”
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Alli was taken off soon after the Potters had scored, which sparked a touchline spat between him and the manager. He could be seen taking a swing at a group of water bottles as he made his way to the stands.
Mourinho was also clearly frustrated at Alli and shouted out at him. “Dele tries a flick and Mourinho says ‘your flick has cost us that goal’,” co-commentator Clinton Morrison said on BBC 5Live (h/t Express).
Alli has already been out of favour under Jose this term and this latest incident will only push him further towards the exit doors ahead of the January window.