It was telling that the only Tottenham manager referenced by name in Dele Alli’s parting note to the London club on Tuesday was Mauricio Pochettino.
Alli, who joined Everton in one of the headline transfers on
The Argentine’s time at Tottenham ended in November 2019. So, in a sense, did Alli's.
“I want to give a special mention,” Alli wrote, “to Mauricio and his staff for their trust and guidance in the early part of my career at Spurs, which gave me the platform to show what I can do.”
No mention of Jose Mourinho. Or of Nuno Espirito Santo. Or of Antonio Conte, the incumbent at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
None of the three could get the best out of a player who had a key role in England’s run to the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and, before that, had put up the kind of scoring numbers by the age of 21 that set him on course to be an English soccer great.
Can Frank Lampard,
“I’ve had a few good conversations with him already and he’s a player I’ve admired watching his whole career,” Alli said Tuesday about Lampard, who excelled as a goalscoring midfielder himself.
“To get the opportunity to work with him now is very exciting and I’m sure we’re going to do great things together.”
Upon turning 21 in April 2017, Alli had either scored or assisted 40 goals in the Premier League, which was as many as Lampard (15), Steven Gerrard (13) and David Beckham (12) had combined at that age.
That is the kind of player Tottenham and England had on their hands. Someone who, in January 2016, scored one of the best-ever Premier League goals by flicking the ball over his head, spinning around his marker and burying a low volley from outside the area almost in one movement.
The following season (2016-17), Alli scored 22 goals in 46 starts for Tottenham, mostly playing off Harry Kane to devastating effect and showcasing a rare ability at such a young age to time his runs into the area.
How, then, has it got to the point where Alli has gone more than two years without a Premier League goal in open play? His only league goal this season is a penalty against Wolverhampton in August, during a period when he had a rare run of games under then-manager Nuno.
Since Conte arrived in early November, Alli has started two league games.
Maybe fame got his head. Maybe a couple of injuries have set him back. Maybe the emergence of Son Heung-min as a quicker and more ruthless partner for Kane left Alli searching for a new role he hasn’t been able to grasp.
Whatever the reason, Alli — now 25 — has lost that spark that made him such a hard opponent for defenses to pin down. Games have passed him by, especially when he has been played as one of a central-midfield three, forcing him to be more disciplined. He wasn't even close to getting into England's squad for last year's European Championship.
“I just want to be happy playing football,” Alli said Tuesday.
Maybe he can recapture that happiness at Everton, where the fan base is demanding and can get on top of players — in the home team or the away team.
Lampard might choose to play Alli just off lone striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin or as one of two attacking midfielders — the other being another deadline-day signing in Donny van de Beek, who has joined on loan from Manchester United.
Alli thanked Tottenham fans for their support, saying it was a “dream come true” to play for the team he joined from third-tier MK Dons in 2015.
“It’s the end of a chapter,” he wrote, “but not the book.”
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