We expect more from him: Pochettino reacts to Dele Alli’s performance against Southampton

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Tottenham Hotspur beat Southampton 5-2 at Wembley Stadium on Boxing Day.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli (C) shoots through the Southampton defence

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has told Football.London that he still expects more from Dele Alli after his display against Southampton on Boxing Day.

Spurs went into the game in high spirits having beaten Burnley 3-0 on Saturday evening, and they followed that up with another convincing victory over Southampton on Tuesday.

Harry Kane opened the scoring by heading home Christian Eriksen’s free kick, before the England star tapped home Son Heung-min’s pass to hand Spurs a 2-0 half time lead.

Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur

Dele Alli and Son added goals to make it 4-0, with Kane completing his hat-trick in between consolation goals from both Sofiane Boufal and Dusan Tadic.

With two three-goal wins over the Christmas period, Tottenham will feel they have bounced back from their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City, and will be hoping to really kick on from here.

The game was particularly encouraging for manager Pochettino because of Alli’s performance in attacking midfield, given recent criticism of the England international.

Mauricio Pochettino

Alli notched a goal and two assists in Tuesday’s win, with Pochettino now hoping that the 21-year-old can return to his best form in the near future.

After the game, Pochettino spoke to Football.London, and admitted that he is still expecting more from Alli moving forward, even if he impressed against Southampton.

“I am so happy that he scored and helped the team, but we are going to push and we expect more from him,” said Pochettino. “We are going to push him to be better and better. It’s true that in the last few games, he’s been doing better but I think he can do better. Today he scored and assisted in the last few games. His participation in the game, with and without the ball is improving a lot. It’s easier to demonstrate that he’s been much better in the last few games,” he added.