For the players at Marine AFC, a semi-professional club plying their trade in the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, being star struck in their Third Round FA Cup fixture yesterday would have been rightfully expected.
Marine, through a series of heroic performances in the earlier rounds of the competition, earned the privilege of lining up against the relative Premier League giants of Tottenham. The match was the biggest mismatch in the 140 year history of the venerable competition (161 places separated the two clubs).
In spite of the gulf in stature, two time Champions League winning manager Jose Mourinho, dispensed a healthy dose of respect to Marine and the FA Cup competition, by starting a professional lineup, which featured multiple internationals and stars that played for Spurs in the Champions League Final less than two years earlier.
That list included the once prodigious Dele Alli, who you may recall, captured back to back PFA Young Player of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017, and who is currently mired in the most difficult season of his career.
The first 24 minutes of this Hollywoodesque match, played in a charming community stadium boxed by the back gardens of many residents (who came out with champagne flutes in hand, peering over and through their fences), provided some genuine drama. Spurs appeared tentative, adjusting to playing on the wobbly pitch, and Marine nearly pulled ahead, when a residential plumber named Neil Kengni, unleashed a speculative shot from distance that floated beyond Joe Hart, and clanked off the crossbar. It was an early shot across the bow. Gradually, Spurs awoke, took over the match and marched into the Fourth Round with a comprehensive and professional 5-0 victory.
In such a mismatch, the spectacle of the event became the attraction, rather than the quality of football on offer. That said, Mourinho and Spurs’ supporters should be heartened that at the centre of it all, Dele Alli was the engineer-in-chief, pulling the strings, gliding through the midfield and effortlessly playing 1-2s with various teammates in the breathtaking build up.
Indeed, it was Dele’s graceful runs and visionary passes that helped set up three of Spurs’ four first-half goals, all coming from the Brazilian striker, Carlos Vinicius. On the first, Dele played a crisp and tidy 1-2 with Gedson Fernandes, before playing the ball to Vinicius in front of goal. On the second, Dele lofted a ball onto right back, Matt Doherty, who volleyed a shot on goal, resulting in a rebound on which Vinicius rabidly pounced on. Finally, on the third goal, Dele once again played an elegant 1-2 with the young midfielder Harvey White, and found Vinicius near goal, who hit a chipped shot over a helpless Marine goalkeeper, Bayleigh Passant.
This effervescent version of Dele Alli is the one that Spurs’ supporters have seen flashes of in the past, most notably at the height of the Pochettino era of 2016-2018, but that has gone inexplicably missing this season. It has truly been a nightmarish season, as prior to this match against Marine, Dele had started only four matches in all competitions. In two of those matches, (v Everton in the first match of the Premier League season, and at Royal Antwerp in the Europa League) he was dispiritingly hooked off at half-time.
In his last start, in the League Cup Quarter Final against Stoke last month, Dele was arguably Spurs’ top player in the first half, looking spritely in his preferred number 10 role, the highlight of which came when he nutmegged Stoke’s hapless defender Tommy Smith on two occasions in the 26th minute. However, despite entertaining and energizing Spurs’ fans over those first 45 minutes, he was promptly admonished for his role in Stoke’s equalizer.
With Spurs firmly in control of the match in the 54th minute, in midfield, Dele tried to play an audacious flick, which was easily intercepted. Stoke’s speedy winger Jacob Brown quickly transitioned up the right flank, and put in an inch perfect cross to Jordan Thompson, and the game was level. For a manager that prides himself on defensive solidity and complete focus in all phases of the game, Mourinho simply could not tolerate this complete lack of judgement. Mourinho said after the match “for a player in that position, he has to link and create… not to create problems for his own team.”
Dele remained in the game another twelve minutes, but this point, his confidence had eroded. In the 64th minute, he was sprung on a counter, and had Kane and Lucas as genuine passing options within his sight, but the ball limply fizzled off his foot through a mix of hesitation and uncertainty. It was his last action of the match, and the last action of his miserable year. At one point, superstardom had all but seemed assured for Dele, but he saw 2020 close with only one non-penalty goal in 30 matches, and his assured place in the team, completely lost.
Part of this fall off can likely be attributed to the evolution of Spurs’ tactics over the last three seasons. Under Mourinho this season, Spurs have sat progressively more deeper, and are more reliant on the counter attack to create goal scoring opportunities. Under Mauricio Pochettino’s high press system, Dele looked most comfortable playing just behind Harry Kane, and being perched in the perfect position to unleash his outstanding playmaking tools. Yet, in a deep lying team, it is Kane that has taken on more of the midfielder playmaking role, as he tries to spring passes onto his blazing teammates in Son Heung-min, Steven Bergwijn and occasionally, Lucas Moura.
It is not to say that Dele cannot play for Mourinho at all. He did after all score four goals in Mourinho’s first four matches in charge last season. Yet as Mourinho continues to put his imprint on the team, and plays more matches with his defensive structure, there appears to be less space for Dele to play his free roaming game.
As Dele turns 25 in the coming months, and has seen himself fall out of contention for a spot in the England team in the upcoming European Championships, he surely will angle for a move to get more first team opportunities, in a system that optimizes his talents. Rumours of a loan move to Paris St. Germain have persisted since last summer, and took on more credence after PSG hired Pochettino as manager at the end of last month.
Personally, I would prefer that Dele remain at Spurs and fight for his spot in the team. Over the last several seasons, Spurs have had other players that were deemed as malcontents, and out of good graces and plans of their managers, destined for a move away. Moussa Sissoko was a figure of derision in the first season he joined Spurs, but through his hard work and understanding of Pochettino and then Mourinho, has been recast as an effective (though, inelegant) central midfielder. Although he is far from a perfect midfielder, he has become somewhat indispensable for the club.
Similarly, Tanguy Ndombele, who came to Spurs in the summer of 2019 as the most expensive player in club history, struggled through all of last season, and was thought to be back on the market last summer. Yet, through renewed commitment, mutual trust between he and Mourinho, has now become a regular fixture in Spurs’ starting eleven, and has arguably been the most eye catching player of the season.
Perhaps the positive memories that Dele made for myself and fellow Spurs’ supporters over the years is what makes us reluctant to move on from him. Although his most recent exploits were against an 8th tier side, the vintage performance offered a glimpse into his immense talent, the whimsical joy that he plays with, and the hope that he will do good again.
Maybe in the end, amid all the pixie-dust and “magic of the FA Cup” chatter, it was us who were star struck by that potential that Dele Alli offers.
Jaideep Kanungo
Jaikan Sport 