Tottenham starting Heung-min Son – as they did against Stoke – is allowing Dele Alli to rediscover his best form.
Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match against Stoke City.
Dele Alli has come in for some serious criticism this season having failed to show the form for Tottenham Hotspur that saw the midfielder win successive PFA young player of the year awards in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Yet at the weekend as Spurs thrashed Stoke City 5-1 in the Premier League the 21-year-old showed signs of getting back to his best and a slight tweak in Mauricio Pochettino’s tactics appears to be behind that.
Mauricio Pochettino, manager of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on prior to the Premier League match against Stoke City.
Pochettino started Heung-min Son at Wembley Stadium against the Potteries, something which has not always been the case with the attacking trio generally being made up of Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane.
Yet with Stoke the visitors the Tottenham manager decided to play Son as well in a decision that clearly worked as his team ran out comfortable winners.
For Alli this was less of an all action attacking display, with the England international seen up alongside Kane in the past, but instead he was allowed to drop deeper and show more creativity.
Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur breaks away from Geoff Cameron of Stoke City during the Premier League match at Wembley Stadium.
The North Londoners’ second goal, scored by Son, saw the youngster put a ball in behind the defence and the South Korea international running on to find the back of the net.
There is less pressure on Alli to be among the goals and force the breakthrough himself as when pushing forward Kane has a more natural partner in the Korean and a different dynamic to Pochettino’s attack can only be a good thing when perhaps things had got a little predictable.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
