Dele Alli shares how he reacted to Jose Mourinho’s first words to him

Follow us on Google Discover

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli put in his best performance in a long time at the weekend.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli has revealed to Football London that the first thing Jose Mourinho said to him was to ask whether his brother had been playing instead of him recently.

Alli’s form at Spurs has dipped badly in recent times, with his goalscoring threat seemingly deteriorating.

When Alli joined Tottenham he became established as one of the most threatening midfielders in the Premier League.

However, over the past two years, Alli has struggled with injury and his form has dipped.

Mourinho has made restoring Alli to the top of his game one his first tasks at Tottenham and he made an excellent start at the weekend.

Alli was played in a more advanced role for Spurs and thrived as the Lilywhites beat West Ham United 3-2.

And Alli couldn’t help but laugh at Mourinho’s joke when he first arrived at Spurs, even if it did poke fun at him.

“It was funny. It was the first thing he said to me. I laughed,” Alli said.

“He’s said a few other things since. A few others have said [I’m not playing at my level] It was nice for someone to say it to me rather than behind my back.”

Alli was arguably Tottenham’s man of the match on Saturday, with his display earning plenty of plaudits.

The task for the England international will now be to keep his level up, as there is no doubting his quality when he at the top of his game.

Alli looks likely to start for Tottenham this evening, when they take on Olympiacos in the Champions League.