Ian Wright has urged Nuno Espirito Santo to ‘put faith’ in Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, as he told the Kelly and Wrighty Show.
The 25-year-old has been out-of-sorts for a number of years now and he was recently dropped to the bench during Tottenham’s win against Aston Villa before the international break.
When Alli burst onto the Premier scene as a teenager, he was brought in from MK Dons in 2015 – and fitted in like a glove.
He did more damage without the ball because of his perfectly-timed runs into the penalty area, which allowed him to become a standout and a goalscoring midfielder.
But that fresh and vibrant version of Alli is no longer there and he has been searching for that form for a number of years now.
Wright shared his thoughts on Alli and how he his goals can take the pressure off the likes of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.
“You have to put faith in Dele,” said Wright. “You do need a midfielder who can pick him out when he does arrive late because he does get into the box and he can score.
“Nuno, at some stage, has to try and cater for him in that role because, when you look at Tottenham’s goalscorers, yes it’s Son and Harry Kane. It’s not enough. They don’t have enough goals. And Dele Alli scores goals.”
This does now seem like the last chance saloon for Alli, in the sense that if it goes wrong under this manager, then it’s probably goodbye to his Spurs career.
What doesn’t help Alli’s cause is that Tottenham themselves are stagnating, Daniel Levy is under pressure and fans feel there hasn’t been enough investment into the squad in recent years.
And if fans want fresh faces brought into the club, then that means kicking out those who currently don the colours.
The likes of Heung-Min Son and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are bullet-proof in that regard, but someone like Alli clearly isn’t.
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