Confirmed Signing Dele Alli

[Rob17896]

He 22 mate so he hasn't been ground down yet. Hopefully he gets to see some good times.

He is right. No way are we getting relegated.

 

[Bluestar]

I hope the new surroundings help him find some form. By all accounts he has been hopelessly off the pace and way off fitness.

He has the skills, can he rediscover his desire?

 

[Jeff Jones]

Big worry for me is the lack of that burst of speed since his hamstrings went.

Similar to what happened with Townsend, he had to adapt his game after losing his pace. Hopefully he still has that quickness over a couple of metres.

Also think he'll be happy to get out of London. Wasn't he held at knife point in a home invasion recently? Can't have helped his form much

So did Michael Owen, very early in his career. It can be done.

 

[heatmeiser]

So did Michael Owen, very early in his career. It can be done.

Though to be fair, he was never even close to being the same player, was he? Or am I misremembering because he's tarnished his name with tedious punditry and dressing up as a Doughnut?

 

[Jeff Jones]

Though to be fair, he was never even close to being the same player, was he? Or am I misremembering because he's tarnished his name with tedious punditry and dressing up as a Doughnut?

I take it that you don't like him. His hamstring problems happened when he was very young, I think, and it didn't seem to have much effect on him. He played at a high level in a lot of good teams.

 

[ToffeeTim]

He played really well a few weeks ago against the reds, so it's not that he's completely lost his ability. It's about helping him to play near his best on a far more consistent basis.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Honestly, I'd tell him to support someone else instead...

I do sometimes wonder why as he was growing up I did my utmost to indoctrinate him into becoming a blue, I reckon I should be done for cruelty to a child. lol

 

[bluebud]

Worryingly for me, a lot of his goals came via exquisite long 60-yard passes from Alderweireld at Spurs.

Who is going to provide such assists for us? Keane can't even complete a simple 10-yard-along-the-floor pass to a team mate most of the time, while neither Holgate nor Mina or Godfrey are known for their vision or ability to dink the ball over the top.

We don't have players who can unlock defences which could be disastrous in our relegation fight, and we'll really be relying on Gray now to find Alli with his final ball.

I reckon we might see a few assists for Pickford, especially against teams playing a high line looking to press us.

 

[DanB90]

Number 36.

Bit mad.

Seems to be a bit of a trend at the minute with footballers picking obscure squad numbers (as I’m not the traditional 1-11).

 

[vincevega]

I agree , as a17-19 year old player .. Berkeley looked an awesome talent … strong , fast , power in both feet , could carry the ball .. he could do a lot of things that you can’t coach … his trouble was that he couldn’t learn the things that your are usually able to coach

Totally agree. The Gascoigne-comparison was absolutely spot on back then.. Ross Barkley was a extremely naturally gifted young man with weak character and IQ. Do you guys remember his first press conference bodyguarded by Martinez?

Had Barkley had the same "protection" and less responsibility as Dele Alli, we would have seen him flourish way more than we did.

Ronald Koeman was also a very bad influence on Ross.

 

[Bluestar]

Totally agree. The Gascoigne-comparison was absolutely spot on back then.. Ross Barkley was a extremely naturally gifted young man with weak character and IQ. Do you guys remember his first press conference bodyguarded by Martinez?

Had Barkley had the same "protection" and less responsibility as Dele Alli, we would have seen him flourish way more than we did.

Ronald Koeman was also a very bad influence on Ross.

So was Roy Hodgson.

 

[JammyP]

I do sometimes wonder why as he was growing up I did my utmost to indoctrinate him into becoming a blue, I reckon I should be done for cruelty to a child. lol

We have no choice.

 

[Nymzee]

 

[Azza]

Imagine what he'll say when he sees how often we pass it back to Pickford.

 

[ZissouBlue]

Imagine what he'll say when he sees how often we pass it back to Pickford.

Hope he knows what he's getting himself into here...seems like a smart guy (albeit an emotional one) so I'd imagine he'll have some perspective for the rest of the season. This is going to be project no doubt.

One worry I have is do we have the team leaders that we need to help on that front. I'm not so sure we do.