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Pochettino Is Showing He Will Not Let Dele Alli’s Standards Drop with Tottenham
- Updated: August 23, 2016
Before just about any professional football match, a teamsheet will be handed out in the press box. There were two unusual differences about the ones passed around ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last Saturday.
The first was the sheet itself was smaller than those previously handed out at White Hart Lane, A5 rather than A4—every penny counts for that new stadium, after all. The second, much more interesting change was Dele Alli’s name was not listed in Tottenham’s starting XI.
Teamsheet for Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace @br_uk #THFC #CPFC #TOTCRY #PremierLeague #EPL pic.twitter.com/MxQDxXhZlH
— Thomas Cooper (@Thomas__Cooper) August 20, 2016
Alli was absent for Spurs’ final home match of last season, too. From the preceding September right up until missing that loss against Southampton through suspension, though, the midfielder had been a first-choice fixture.
Speaking after the match with Crystal Palace, Alli’s manager Mauricio Pochettino played down anything exceptional being behind his dropping the 2015-16 PFA Young Player of the Year.
The England international’s post-Euro 2016 fitness was a factor. “We need to be careful to manage in a very good condition that tries to avoid problems in the future,” especially as Alli had been “ill during the week—Tuesday, Wednesday he didn’t train.”
This information being omitted from his pre-match team news, per Spurs’ official website, was probably just Pochettino not wanting to show his Palace counterpart Alan Pardew his full hand. The accompanying additional answers suggested there might have been a little more to it, regardless.
“We cannot play with 12 or 13 players,” Pochettino had said. “We want to play with two strikers, it’s impossible we play with all the players that we have.”
The selection of both last season’s top scorer (and, with Hugo Lloris injured, stand-in captain) Harry Kane along with new striker Vincent Janssen after the latter impressed against Everton did indeed mean someone missed out. Getting a further look at the two of them together was “a natural decision,” according to the Argentinian.
Deciding Alli would miss out would not have been a simple choice. His manager reassured him that “it is sure that he will be an important player for us in this season,” but even if illness was the persuading factor here, dropping him was still a notable occurrence.
