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News
Glenn Hoddle says he wouldn’t have taken Dele Alli off at half-time in Tottenham defeat
Glenn Hoddle claimed he wouldn’t have substituted Dele Alli off the pitch in Tottenham’s defeat in Europe like manager Jose Mourinho elected to do.
Spurs were beaten 1-0 away to Belgian side Royal Antwerp on Thursday night, who defended brilliantly and were extremely organised in the Europa League group stage match.
It was a night where many fringe players in the squad were given a chance to play, but the Portuguese boss was clearly not happy with his team trailing at half-time and he decided to make four substitutions during the interval.
Alli was one of the individuals pulled off after the opening 45 minutes despite the fact it was just his sixth appearance of the season, which shows how far he’s fallen down the pecking order of late.
The 24-year-old attacking midfielder can’t quite seem to catch a break at the start of the campaign and he’s looked a long way from the levels he’s shown in the past, as his final ball was lacking against Antwerp.
Hoddle acknowledged that the English playmaker struggled with a poor display last night, but admitted he would’ve given him a little longer to rectify that in the second-half and wouldn’t have taken him off.
“I wouldn’t have taken him off. I would have said you’ve got to go out there and improve that first 15/20 minutes second-half,”
“He just had one of those nights. I was hoping he was going to have a really good game and get back to his best, but he was making wrong decisions and that’s the form he’s been in.
“He kept fighting but at the end of the day that’s how he’s played for a period of time, it’s not just a one-off performance.
“Dele Alli is a box threat player for me. You get him in the box he’ll score goals, he’s not doing that since Jose has been here.”
TBR’s View:
It looks a long way back for Alli to become a regular under Mourinho again, as he’s not going to get too many chances to showcase his talent and it’s going to be tough to play himself back into form.
Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele certainly look like the two creative midfielders pushing for a spot in the XI, leaving Alli possibly third-choice in that area of the pitch.
He was very much a golden boy under former boss Mauricio Pochettino when he burst onto the scene in the top-flight and a key player for England’s national side too, but he’s stuck in a rut right now and a lot of debate will be ongoing about his future.