Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli picks out favourite goal; discusses dip in form

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Dele Alli is back on the goal trail for Spurs after a barren run which saw his form criticised.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has explained to Sky Sports that he feels criticism of his form this season has been unfair and based solely on his goal return.

The 21-year-old faced backlash during a recent nine-match goalless run in the Premier League, in which time a couple of disciplinary incidents were also needlessly spotlighted.

Goals against Southampton and Swansea City in each of Tottenham’s last two games have got Alli back on track, but the England international was never worried about his overall performances.

He told Sky Sports in an exclusive interview: “Every player has ups and downs; it’s impossible to stay at one level throughout your career. I think I’m playing well. Of course there have been games where I haven’t played as well as I would have liked but overall, I don’t think there’s too much to worry about.

“I’ll keep working hard. I don’t want to be as good as I was last year, I want to be better. It’s important to stay confident; it’s easy for your confidence to drop when you’re not scoring goals, especially as an attacking player.

“People think if you’re not scoring or assisting, you’re playing badly but that’s not always the case. There’ve been times when I’ve scored two goals in a game and probably had one of my worst games! It’s frustrating when you’re missing but you have to keep working hard and getting in positions. I know the quality I have so it’s about showing it.”

Alli has five top-flight goals to his name this season and nine in total, which is only one less than he had at this stage last campaign when he finish with 18 in the league and 22 in all competitions.

However, the former MK Dons player has to go back to January 2016 for the favourite goal of his career – a skilful volley against Crystal Palace which inspired Spurs to a 3-1 comeback win at Selhurst Park.

“It’s got to be the Palace goal,” Alli told Sky Sports when asked to recall his most memorable strike.

“I think it was all instinct. You have a split-second to think about it and plan what you’re going to do. After I flipped it over his head it just dropped too nicely not to strike it and thankfully it went in.”