da betsul： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da doce： Dele Alli’s former manager, Karl Robinson, has defended the midfielder from recent criticism, per talkSPORT.
What’s he said?
Alli, who played under Robinson while he was at MK Dons prior to his move to Spurs, has endured a difficult start to the season.
He has scored just one goal in seven appearances in all competitions, with ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane claiming the 23-year-old has “lost his hunger” for improvement in north London.
But Robinson, who now manages Oxford United, has gone to bat for his former charge.
He said: “It’s difficult to hear.
“You’ve got to understand that everyone is surmising here, everyone is presuming things.
“Sometimes it can be taken out of context, people are paid to make a judgement on the game and the way it goes, but everything else is hearsay.
“I know him personally and the one thing I put down to a bit of a lack of performance is that this very young boy has played professional football since the age of 15 or 16, and he didn’t have any major injuries.
“But over the last 12 months, he’s had one or two hamstring issues and different bits and bobs, because of overplaying. I think one thing we’re all forgetting about these young England players is, when are these kids going to get time off?”
He added: “To win Young Player of the Year for two years on the spin, he’s an exceptional talent.
“He might have lost his way, I don’t know and I can’t comment on that, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the amount of football he’s played.
“Our young players are getting flogged because of how intense the Premier League is, it’s the most intense league in the world, and then you put the European games and England games on top of that.”
Finally some sense
It’s about time someone actually came out with a measured, reasonable take on Alli.
The 23-year-old has played a total of 279 games at club level throughout his career, in addition to a total of 54 international appearances from U17 level to the senior team.
Think, too, of Wayne Rooney when he was young. When he moved to Manchester United, after bursting onto the scene at Everton – he left the Toffees with 77 appearances to his name at the age of 18 – he scored 11 Premier League goals in 2004/05, and then 16 in 2005/06. He didn’t beat that tally until the 09/10 season, when he netted 26.
Rooney is still regarded as one of England’s best-ever players but he too was overplayed at a young age and it can take time, and adjustments, for players to get used to it.
But there is a pathway to getting your mojo back, and Rooney has proved that, even if there is a dip, the peaks can be scaled once again.
Robinson has hit the nail on the head; it’s about time somebody gave Alli a break.