Dele Alli justifies Mauricio Pochettino’s praise, and it’s why Real Madrid are watching the Tottenham star closely

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Tom Collomosse5 January 2017

A little more than an hour had passed of Tottenham's home game with Hull on December 14 when Dele Alli saw the No20 raised by the fourth official.

With a face like thunder, Alli departed, offering brief encouragement to his replacement, Harry Winks, before taking his place on the bench and looking similarly fed up.

After the game — a 3-0 win for Tottenham — Alli marched out of White Hart Lane and on to the team bus. Here was an angry young man, without a League goal for two months and not knowing when the next would come.

How quickly fortunes change. In his next four matches, Alli scored seven times, including the double that ended Chelsea’s winning streak last night. Before the game, Mauricio Pochettino called Alli “the most important player to emerge in English football in recent years”. Alli’s work against Chelsea justified his manager’s opinion — and Spurs have yet to lose a League game in which he has scored.

Any young player needs strong backing, more in bad times than good, and Alli has had it. After that Hull fixture, Danny Rose said Alli was “still our most dangerous player”.

“There is no panic,” added the left-back. “We know Dele will start scoring again like he did last season.”

Rose’s prediction has proved accurate. Alli has 11 goals for the season in all competitions, one more than he managed in the whole of 2015-16. It has been some resurgence but contrary to many judgments, Alli was not playing all that badly before this sensational sequence of scoring.

Take Tottenham’s 2-1 Champions League defeat in Monaco in November, which sealed their elimination. Alli’s display was one of the most criticised on social media, where sober analysis can rarely be heard above the constant shouting.

True, this was not Alli’s best game for Tottenham. Yet even though he was struggling with a knee problem and clearly not fully fit, the 20-year-old created a wonderful early chance that Heung-min Son wasted. He won the penalty that allowed Harry Kane to equalise.

And in the closing minutes, he found space at the far post only to steer a shot wide. On another day, Spurs might have won, thanks to a goal and two assists from Alli. He would have received the kind of praise he woke up today.

That is the thing about Alli: he can affect the game in any moment. His understanding of space and how to use it is superb. Chelsea’s marking could be questioned for both goals, two virtually identical headers from crosses.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Chelsea | 04/01/2017

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Yet Alli knew instinctively when to move, where to be. Few have such a gift. It is why Alli has signed two new deals since his Spurs debut in August 2015, taking his wages from about £12,000 a week to about £50,000 a week.

It is why there will surely be another new deal at the end of the season. It is why Real Madrid, who took Luka Modric and Gareth Bale from Tottenham in 2012 and 2013 respectively, are watching closely.

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