Darren Bent has shared there is ‘something deeper’ going on with Dele Alli, as his woes after leaving Tottenham continue at Everton.
The former striker told talkSPORT that the 25-year-old, who once scored 18 Premier League goals from midfield for Spurs, is ‘too good to retire’ after it was suggested he should take that path by Stan Collymore.
For several years, Alli’s form had started to dip and then fall off the footballing cliff, under several different managers.
Even under Mauricio Pochettino, the man who signed him and he thrived under the most, Alli’s form was heading in the wrong direction, before the now-PSG boss was sacked by Daniel Levy.
Now, the attack-minded midfielder is struggling to even get into an Everton team that is battling relegation.
Bent shared his thoughts on Alli’s current situation and even compared him to someone like David Bentley, who hung up his boots before the age of 30.
“It looks like there is something deeper going on,” said Bent. “But when I look at his situation and Marcus Rashford’s.
“You look at Marcus Rashford’s and you can quite easily see that something isn’t quite right. Even his demeanour. But Dele Alli always seems to be smiling and seems okay. And it’s just a complete drop in form.
“He’s not even been able to find himself back. You go back to 16/17, that was when he was at his absolute best. That was a long, long time ago.
“He’s too good of a player to retire now. Unless he’s completely fallen out of love with it. I think it was David Bentley, he fell out of love with it, then he retired out of the blue.”
It’s not just the volume of goals Alli was scoring at Spurs, but the quality behind them that was impressive.
From his volley at Crystal Palace to his brace against Chelsea, the England international was a very popular figure with the Tottenham fans, and rightly so.
But, his form under Pochettino started to hit the wrong notes, picked up a little under Jose Mourinho, before he warned the player when it started to go wrong again.
And then it never really picked up again, as the very demanding, Antonio Conte, couldn’t even get anything out of him.
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