Dele Alli’s Anticipated Result Ends in Disaster | OneFootball

It's been a long, hard road back to the top flight of professional soccer for Dele Alli. After soaring high as part of Mauricio Pochettino's iconic Spurs side—which, against the odds, reached the Champions League final in 2019 only to fall to Jürgen Klopp's dominant Liverpool— the Englishman found himself out of the loop, struggling to find playing time after fruitless spells at Everton and Beşiktaş.

A Second Chance

On January 19, 2025, Dele Alli was confirmed to have joined Cesc Fàbregas' Como team, buying fully into the project to keep the side in Serie A after their promotion from Serie B last season. Como seemed like an exciting move—after all, the team appears to be a home for renegades from some of Europe’s giants, such as Nico Paz, Sergi Roberto, and 42 year-old Pepe Reina.

It was a long-awaited return, especially for those who witnessed Alli’s prowess in the middle of the park during his Tottenham days and his international appearances with the English national team. This comeback was even more intriguing under the tutelage of a former midfield maestro like Como’s Cesc Fàbregas, who orchestrated some of Europe’s most astonishing midfields for teams like Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea, and, of course, the Spanish national team. Among his many accolades, Fàbregas counts the World Cup trophy, which he won when South Africa hosted the competition in 2010. Alli came close to glory many times but never quite achieved it; as previously mentioned, he fell short in the 2019 Champions League final with Spurs and has never won any major trophies in his competitive career.

The Controversies

Unfortunately, Dele Alli’s career has been plagued by controversies. From a troubled childhood marked by abuse and unstable environments to his widely discussed fall from grace from the pinnacle of international football and a publicly acknowledged battle with addiction, Alli has faced numerous challenges. He has, in some sense, had the good fortune of being under the guidance of some of the sport’s greatest figures, such as José Mourinho, yet the feeling that he never reached his full potential still lingers, leaving a bitter taste behind. Still, Dele is only 28 years old, and in today’s sport, a player’s career can be extended by five or six years longer than it would have been in past decades. Football—or soccer, however you want to call it—always offers a chance for redemption, and in Dele Alli’s case, there is still plenty of time for him to chase after it.

The Red Card

The red card came in the 91st minute, only ten minutes after he’d been subbed on, and was the result of a tackle on fellow Englishman and also returning midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The decision came after a closer VAR evaluation—in slow motion, of course, the tackle looked like a horrible, career-ending offense on Alli’s part, but in open play, you wouldn’t have looked at it twice. We can chalk this sort of mistake up to rust; after all, Alli has been out of the game for over two years, and by that point in the match, Como’s collective temper was running hot after giving up a 1-0 lead.

Alli is an underdog, and in sports, there’s no better story than that of the underdog beating the odds and having something to show for it. Cesc Fàbregas and Como seem to be working on a long-term project, and with the right kind of guidance, Dele Alli might end up being one of the cornerstones of a franchise that’s here to stay.