was... past tense
When he was a little shit he was playing his best. He then got nice, changed his game and got scared of injuries – relied too heavily on a 'flick'.
Similar to young kids being fearless... wait until they are a bit old and they are never taking up skateboarding
I agree. He was great (although had some limitations) when he was young, wild and free. I think multiple things happened to "break" him:
1. Overexposure. I remember him and Dier getting a lot of attention when they were still young and had just broken through. It probably became too much. Some clubs are vary with exposing the young, they tend to try to protect them to prevent the attention from becoming too much.
2. Tactical Discipline. I am guessing our management wanted him to become more tactically disciplined. He was not raised in a big academy, came through at MK Dons, so was likely less "schooled" than those growing up at Spurs or other top clubs. He played like he was playing for fun with friends, and produced some incredible moments of magic. I think he struggled to fit into the mould, and that it stifled his creative side, which was what made him look the most brilliant, and which was what made him happy out there.
3. Avoiding trouble. As you say, he got nice. I myself was a bit of a hot head when I played the game. When I moved to a bigger club than my boyhood club (still at amateur level though!), I tried to become less of a cunt. This left me with less aggression, less desire to win, etc, and had pretty much made me even more shit as a footballer. The same seems to have happened to Dele.
4. Lost confidence. When he first came to Spurs, he was brimming with confidence and felt he could do anything. As the effects of the above started to set in, his confidence eventually shattered, which furthered his decline.
5. Lost interest. As a result of the above, football simply became less fun. A player like Dele, a player who needs to PLAY football, needs to have fun to be great.
6. No support. When his problems became apparent, pundits and fans stopped the praising and instead gave him shit. This made the confidence worse, and the loss of interest worse.
Can he get back to what he was? He has the same ability, I am sure, but being a great football requires the head to be just right. I think it would be damn near impossible to get his mentality back to where he was. He is no longer 20 years old.