TITLE IS THE REAL TARGET FOR ALLI
Pochettino gives us belief to beat anyone, says two-goal hero Dele
DELE ALLI has warned Tottenham’s rivals the club can beat anyone and that the Premier League title is in their sights.
Alli scored twice as Spurs stamped their mark on the European footballing landscape with a crushing 3-1 victory over Champions League holders Real Madrid in front of 83,000 at Wembley.
The destruction of Zinedine Zidane’s galacticos reverberated across the Continent and Alli wants the effects to be felt strongest in the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men finished third in the Premier League two seasons ago and were runners-up last season.
‘We have been a bit unfortunate the last two seasons,’ said Alli. ‘Tactically we are very strong. We put a lot of trust in the manager and he puts a lot of trust in us. We feel like we can beat everyone. The way he talks to us in meetings, he gives us a lot of self-belief.’
But the 21-year-old warned his team-mates they must keep their feet on the ground.
‘We have to keep making sure we build as a team, keep working together on the training field and make sure we are putting in performances at the weekend,’ he said. ‘Make sure we get as many points as we can.’
Pochettino, often compared to the great Sir Alex Ferguson, is the mastermind behind Tottenham’s emergence as a major force.
In the aftermath of the Wembley heroics, he was completely at ease, and acted as though it was simply just another win.
He is firm but fair with his players and has achieved success with a core of current and potential England players.
Alli, Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Eric Dier and Kieran Trippier all excelled on Wednesday night. All of them were yesterday called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil, as was teammate Danny Rose, who didn’t feature against Madrid.
Kane, who has captained England and is the national team’s leading striker, believes it can only benefit Southgate and the country that this group are playing at the highest level and beating the world’s best.
Kane said: ‘It’s great for England (that we are) playing and performing in those big games. That’s what we need to do.
‘The most important thing is doing it in high-pressure games. It will be a good chance next week to play (for England) against tough opposition, see where we’re at, maybe try new things or see what the gaffer wants us to do.
‘ It matters more when the pressure is on, and (against Real Madrid) the pressure was on to qualify and we did.’
Kane had a warning for Alli, urging his young team-mate to keep calm so he does not pick up any more unnecessary suspensions.
Alli was absent from Tottenham’s first three Champions League matches due to a horror challenge on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere in the Europa League last season.
‘It hurt him, especially missing big games against Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid,’ Kane said. ‘Hopefully he stays calm and we’ll have him for the rest of the campaign.’