I'll take 'things I'll regret in 15 years' Alex
That tattoo....
-
The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...
Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports
‘You have to make sure you take the chances’
Dele Alli, who earns his 18th cap today, tells Jason Burt about his rise from League One to England regular
9 June 2017
The Telegraph
Dele Alli sits down ahead of his first newspaper briefing on England duty and says: “Oh, my God, there are so many people here.” And, in the futsal hall at St George’s Park, there is plenty of interest in Alli as he begins to explain his rise; a rise that he describes as “unbelievable, yet believable at the same time”.
Only recently turned 21, Alli will earn his 18th cap for England in the World Cup qualifier away against Scotland just over two years after he played his last game for MK Dons in League One. He has become a vital player for club and country, a midfielder whose goalscoring statistics already eclipse Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and his hero, Steven Gerrard, at his age. By 21 he was involved in as many Premier League goals (40) as that trio combined. And already he is a wanted man across Europe.
“When it’s happening, there are moments where you can’t believe this is happening, but then you think, ‘I’ve worked so hard for so long and I’ve made decisions, so it is believable’,” Alli says of his ascent at Tottenham Hotspur to become one of the first names on the team sheet for England. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen that quickly, but you can’t wait for time. When you get chucked in at the deep end, you have to make sure you take the chances and I’m thankful for everything that has happened so far.”
So far it has been incredible with Alli, having won the PFA Young Player of the Year in both of his two seasons in the Premier League, having to “change my game a little bit” this campaign, developing more into a ‘second striker’ because he is no longer an unknown quantity. Alli is a marked man and, inevitably, there is already a debate as to how much he is a wanted man also. There is interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe – not that there is any rush for him to leave.
“It’s not really something I am thinking about too much,” Alli says. “I think people get too worried about where they are going to end up and lose focus on the journey and not enjoying it. So, for me, as a player I’m signed at Tottenham and I am enjoying it. Who knows where I am going to end up but I am enjoying the journey.
“Whether I stay at Tottenham for the rest of my career or if I do happen to go somewhere else I’m sure if it happens it will be at a time when I think that’s what’s needed. For me, personally, I am just looking forward to enjoying the journey I have.”
And it is clearly a “journey” he is embracing and one that is providing an inspiration, with the question as to whether there are more ‘Dele Allis’ in the lower leagues who just need to be given that opportunity as Spurs did when they invested £5 million – how much is he now worth? – in January 2015, loaning him back to MK Dons until the end of that season.
“I learnt so much from playing in League One from such a young age,” Alli says. “I wasn’t in a rush to leave. I wanted to make sure the time was right. When I joined Tottenham I thought the time was right.
“Playing in League One there’s a lot of great players and you sort of sit there and wonder why they’re not playing in the Premier League when you play against them and with the skills they have but I think there are different reasons for that. You have to be mentally strong to get through it.”
There is an edge to his game and Alli knows he will eventually be asked about his temperament following incidents such as the punch on West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Yacob in April 2016 and, this season, the nasty challenge he made on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere in the Europa League in February which resulted in another three-match ban.
“Obviously after the game I regretted that [the Yacob incident] straight away,” Alli says. “It was one of those moments that I have learnt from and I’ve not done anything like that again. There was also the challenge in the Europa League. I know it looked really bad – and it was a really bad tackle – but I know, myself, that I would never go out to hurt someone. It was just a poorly-timed tackle and I apologised to the guy straight away.”
However Alli does not intend to lose the aggression. “I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about it but that’s the player I am and it’s been in my game every since I was a youngster,” he says.
“That’s not something I am looking to change, to be honest. Obviously I have made a few mistakes and hopefully you can tell that I have learnt from them…maybe if I didn’t have that in my game I wouldn’t have achieved as much as I have done so far at this age.”
He has also learnt lessons playing for England, not least the bitter disappointment of last summer’s Euro 2016 debacle and the last-16 exit against Iceland.
“It still makes your heart go and, you know you get a lump in your throat,” Alli admits, before finding a positive. “It’s important that we do go to them dark places to improve as a team.
“We were shocked at the situation we found ourselves in at that time, when maybe as a team we hadn’t worked enough to realise how to come back from that and to deal with being in a situation like that…hopefully it won’t happen again.” It is all part of his extraordinary journey.
Dele Alli, who earns his 18th cap today, tells Jason Burt about his rise from League One to England regular
9 June 2017
The Telegraph
Dele Alli sits down ahead of his first newspaper briefing on England duty and says: “Oh, my God, there are so many people here.” And, in the futsal hall at St George’s Park, there is plenty of interest in Alli as he begins to explain his rise; a rise that he describes as “unbelievable, yet believable at the same time”.
Only recently turned 21, Alli will earn his 18th cap for England in the World Cup qualifier away against Scotland just over two years after he played his last game for MK Dons in League One. He has become a vital player for club and country, a midfielder whose goalscoring statistics already eclipse Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and his hero, Steven Gerrard, at his age. By 21 he was involved in as many Premier League goals (40) as that trio combined. And already he is a wanted man across Europe.
“When it’s happening, there are moments where you can’t believe this is happening, but then you think, ‘I’ve worked so hard for so long and I’ve made decisions, so it is believable’,” Alli says of his ascent at Tottenham Hotspur to become one of the first names on the team sheet for England. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen that quickly, but you can’t wait for time. When you get chucked in at the deep end, you have to make sure you take the chances and I’m thankful for everything that has happened so far.”
So far it has been incredible with Alli, having won the PFA Young Player of the Year in both of his two seasons in the Premier League, having to “change my game a little bit” this campaign, developing more into a ‘second striker’ because he is no longer an unknown quantity. Alli is a marked man and, inevitably, there is already a debate as to how much he is a wanted man also. There is interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe – not that there is any rush for him to leave.
“It’s not really something I am thinking about too much,” Alli says. “I think people get too worried about where they are going to end up and lose focus on the journey and not enjoying it. So, for me, as a player I’m signed at Tottenham and I am enjoying it. Who knows where I am going to end up but I am enjoying the journey.
“Whether I stay at Tottenham for the rest of my career or if I do happen to go somewhere else I’m sure if it happens it will be at a time when I think that’s what’s needed. For me, personally, I am just looking forward to enjoying the journey I have.”
And it is clearly a “journey” he is embracing and one that is providing an inspiration, with the question as to whether there are more ‘Dele Allis’ in the lower leagues who just need to be given that opportunity as Spurs did when they invested £5 million – how much is he now worth? – in January 2015, loaning him back to MK Dons until the end of that season.
“I learnt so much from playing in League One from such a young age,” Alli says. “I wasn’t in a rush to leave. I wanted to make sure the time was right. When I joined Tottenham I thought the time was right.
“Playing in League One there’s a lot of great players and you sort of sit there and wonder why they’re not playing in the Premier League when you play against them and with the skills they have but I think there are different reasons for that. You have to be mentally strong to get through it.”
There is an edge to his game and Alli knows he will eventually be asked about his temperament following incidents such as the punch on West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Yacob in April 2016 and, this season, the nasty challenge he made on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere in the Europa League in February which resulted in another three-match ban.
“Obviously after the game I regretted that [the Yacob incident] straight away,” Alli says. “It was one of those moments that I have learnt from and I’ve not done anything like that again. There was also the challenge in the Europa League. I know it looked really bad – and it was a really bad tackle – but I know, myself, that I would never go out to hurt someone. It was just a poorly-timed tackle and I apologised to the guy straight away.”
However Alli does not intend to lose the aggression. “I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about it but that’s the player I am and it’s been in my game every since I was a youngster,” he says.
“That’s not something I am looking to change, to be honest. Obviously I have made a few mistakes and hopefully you can tell that I have learnt from them…maybe if I didn’t have that in my game I wouldn’t have achieved as much as I have done so far at this age.”
He has also learnt lessons playing for England, not least the bitter disappointment of last summer’s Euro 2016 debacle and the last-16 exit against Iceland.
“It still makes your heart go and, you know you get a lump in your throat,” Alli admits, before finding a positive. “It’s important that we do go to them dark places to improve as a team.
“We were shocked at the situation we found ourselves in at that time, when maybe as a team we hadn’t worked enough to realise how to come back from that and to deal with being in a situation like that…hopefully it won’t happen again.” It is all part of his extraordinary journey.
It really is impossible for people to write articles about us without questioning the players future at Tottenham.
Did not read. LOL
No. It's the second question they ask after; "What is your name...?"
That tattoo....
The Bam Bam tattoo is a reference to 'Bambidele', by the way.
A tattoo of Bambi would've been hella cool.The Bam Bam tattoo is a reference to 'Bambidele', by the way.
Though his playing style was more akin to Sissoko...A tattoo of Bambi would've been hella cool.
He's becoming a bit of a celebrity.. I picked a colleague up today and drove past Wembley on the 406, there was a big billboard of him and Kane advertising the Juventus game, then a few more yards there wa another massive billboard of him promoting the start of the new premier season.
The colleague I was with, who I don't know that well, said " not him again, everywhere I look theres a picture of that Cunts Mug" had to laugh..
Definitely got the feel of a "new Bale", yes. He'll attract the biggest clubs, on and off the pitch. Hopefully he helps us to a title or two before he leaves though!
I can see both he and Kane being on the cover of FIFA