Next Steps for Dele

‘Where are you going? Is it to the top? If not, why not? Get to the bloody top!’ The immortal words of Richmond Felicity Avenal, promoting Goth 2 Boss. If you understand that reference, you’re great. If not, go and watch the IT Crowd – it’s great. Watching the Premier League this season, it appears that in Dele Alli, there is an English player who could potentially get to the bloody top. How exciting. He’s built on the promise he showed last season, scoring double the goals, and being even more influential for Pochettino’s men.

There’s no point me waxing lyrical about how good Alli is, because everybody already knows. Goals, assists, toughness, skill, two personalised handshakes (that we know of) – the lad has a lot going for him.

I’ve finally gotten over the fact that we were born in the same year – I don’t have time for jealousy any more. He’s showing himself to be the real deal. Or the real Dele, if you will (my blog, my puns, my rules).

However, we’ve been here before.

Ever since the heralded Golden Generation, there have only really been two players who have been hyped so much to the extent that they’ve been expected to save English football. The first was Wayne Rooney. Watching him now, it’s hard to imagine he was once that young star with so much expectation thrust upon him. It can be argued until the cows come home that Rooney never truly lived up to his potential, but he gets a pass on the technicality of becoming the all-time top scorer for both his club and his country. You got lucky this time Wayne.

More recently, we had Jack Wilshere – the last next big thing. Forcing his way into the Arsenal and England first team whilst still a teenager, he drew comparisons to the graduates of La Masia at Barcelona and his future looked incredibly bright. Unfortunately, nobody could envisage that his bones were made of glass, wrapped in porcelain, wrapped in paper. Now, he’s injured again (surprise), and prior to that he wasn’t even starting for Bournemouth. He’s only 25 so a career renaissance isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, but it’s looking increasingly likely that he won’t fulfil the potential that his 18 year old self promised.

So what does Dele Alli have to do to get closer to Rooney than Wilshere? Well the first blindingly obvious thing to say is that he must stay fit.  It goes without saying, and it’s out of his control, but Alli has to avoid injuries if he’s to get to the top of the game. Injuries have almost killed Jack Wilshere’s career, and have hampered Gareth Bale at Real Madrid - the last British player to garner huge European recognition. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, but niggling injury after niggling injury is how you end up with Phil Jones – nobody wants that.

Secondly, Dele Alli has to stay at Tottenham for as long as possible before he makes a move abroad, if that’s what he ends up doing. He’s only just turned 21, and even though he’s already come so far, he still has some improving to do before he becomes the finished article. He’s already being mentioned in the same conversation as the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. As good as it is that an English player is being rated so highly, the grass isn’t always greener at a huge club for a young player. For every Ousmane Dembele, there’s a Renato Sanches, who has only made 23 appearances for Bayern this season off of the back of winning Euro 2016 with Portugal last summer. Alli is already playing in a highly competitive league which is appreciative of how good a player he is. He should at the very least stay in the Premier League until he becomes such a talent that he can walk into any team in Europe, following the footsteps of fellow White Hart Lane alumna Gareth Bale.

Furthermore, Alli should do everything to keep his edge. His temper has come to the forefront on a handful of occasions in his fledgling career, most notably against West Brom last season, and in Europe earlier in the current campaign. Nobody is advocating that he goes off on one whenever he fancies, but that bite he has to his game makes him the player that he is – as it did for Wayne Rooney earlier in his career. His first England goal encapsulates that perfectly; he won the ball with a strong tackle, and put the ball in the top corner seconds later.

The newest crop of elite European footballers are emerging. The likes of Paulo Dybala, Kylian Mbappe, and Ousmane Dembele are making their mark in the game. Dele Alli (along with England colleagues Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford) has similar, scary potential. If his talent is nurtured properly, he could be talked about as among the world’s best in years to come.