Dele Alli running out of time to salvage Spurs career | OneFootball

Out of sorts, out of the team and still out of England reckoning. Dele Alli could be feeling a sense of deja vu at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

Had Jose Mourinho remained in charge in north London, then there was always going to be a chance that the 25-year-old had moved onto pastures new but after the Portuguese’s sacking, he was given a new lease of life under new manager Nuno Santo.

And after starting their opening six league games, it certainly looked as if the England midfielder was going to be an influential figure under the 47-year-old.

However, he was a half-time casualty during their embarrassing defeat to arch-rivals Arsenal in the north London derby several weeks ago and has not featured since.

In his absence, Spurs have won back-to-back matches, ending a run of three straight heavy defeats with him in the side.

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The £27m-rated star was restricted to only 1,355 minutes across all competitions last season, in which just 617 were in the Premier League as Mourinho did not favour him whatsoever – hardly a surprise after dubbing him “lazy” in more colourful terms during training, as seen in their ‘All or Nothing’ docuseries.

Football Insider even reported in September that Spurs were considering selling him, with sources claiming that he is ‘difficult to manage behind the scenes’ and is an ‘inconsistent trainer.’

Alli was a player known for bringing goals and creativity from midfield and at just 25, he should be continuing to elevate his game heading into the peak years of his career.

Back in 2016/17, the 6 foot 2 dynamo provided 18 goals and seven assists in one Premier League season alone. By comparison, he has delivered only nine goals and five assists since the start of the 2019/20 season, as per WhoScored.

His old form earned serious comparisons to the likes of Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard but after clinching 37 caps, he has not been called up by Gareth Southgate in over two years – his last appearance coming in the UEFA Nations League third-placed playoff in June 2019.

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Lilywhites legend Darren Anderton described Alli as a “freak of a talent” who is “a real joy to watch” after that lucrative goalscoring campaign, yet we’ve not seen such returns in a long, long time.

Nuno’s recent decision to axe him from his regular starting XI must be a major cause for concern for Alli, even more so as the side appear to be winning without him and Tanguy Ndombele’s recent form certainly makes his chances of breaking back in even more difficult.