A couple of years ago Dele Alli was looking like one of England’s best players. His form though has declined to such a point that I’m not sure he would have made the squad for the Euros this summer.
With his latest comments saying he sees Chelsea as bigger rivals than us, he’s confirmed that he is the latest player to get what too many young British talent get when they get paid so much, without ever achieving anything …. ‘arrogance’.
Spurs have long reminded me of David O’Leary’s Leeds United. The media love them because there’s so many home grown players, so you end up with a group told every week how special they are when in reality they have won nothing.
Dele Alli has enjoyed the sponsorship deals, being a social media star, etc, yet he’s not a teenager anymore, he’s slowly wasting his potential.
Senior players are rapidly leaving the Spuds because they realise their best chance of winning silverware at White Hart Lane has come and gone.
If his comments were to appease Spurs fans, I would instead be worried. His opinion highlights all that his wrong with his mindset.
The scary thing is, he’s been told how great he is, that he really thinks Spurs have outgrown The North London Derby. This is all based on finishing 2nd once in the whole Premiership era, 7 points behind Chelsea.
Their fans actually claim they were closer to being champions the year before, but it was us who finished 2nd to Leicester. So, to clarify in this glorious Pochettino era, an era where supposedly Spurs have moved on to greater heights, they have been runners up the same amount as time as us.
In fact, in the five years Poch was in charge he lost two Finals, in that same spell we got to five finals winning three of them and that’s when we were in a poor moment of our history.
You would think with Alli so dismissive of the NLD, he must have a great record in the fixture?Spurs have only won once at the Emirates in the Premier League and that was under Harry Redknapp, and that was their only win at our ground since 1993!
I picture Dele Alli one day telling his grandchildren how the Poch era was so special that Spurs no longer saw playing Arsenal as serious. Then having to explain in that time frame how the Gunners won trophies, Spurs didn’t, their manager got sacked and that they never won a single League game at the Emirates.
To put that in perspective, Thierry Henry never lost once to Spurs. He won trophies, at their ground. We really did fight (and beat) Chelsea for silverware. Yet Henry would never play down the significance of the North London Derby.
Maybe that is why he never lost?
Dan Smith
