Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ENGLAND’S DELE VISION
After sparkling against Germany, Alli looks to be the future for Three Lions but Lallana says he still needs time
DELE ALLI is proving there is life after Wayne Rooney as the new jewel in England’s crown. But Adam Lallana believes the nation must be patient with the deadly Tottenham goal-poacher. The 20-year-old’s success as a scoring midfielder at White Hart Lane has marked him down as the poster boy for the younger generation Gareth Southgate is rebuilding his squad around. Excitement is mounting about a creative talent already established as one of the finest young players in Europe. Alli revelled in Southgate’s new-look 3-4-3 formation on Wednesday night in Germany and is set to do so again on Sunday when World Cup qualifying points are at stake against Lithuania at Wembley. His 14 Premier League goals this season put him up with the likes of Leipzig striker Timo Werner – who made his Germany debut against the Three Lions – as a top marksman among his age group. However, England teammate Lallana believes Alli must be afforded time and space to fulfil his potential. “Dele is a fantastic player.” said the Liverpool playmaker. “He is already a magnificent player for England. He is special. I love the way he goes about his business. No fear. He’s brave. “But still people need to be patient with him. “He is still a young boy and performing how he does is way above his years.” Alli blew the kind of chance in Dortmund that he would surely have stuck away for fun in a Spurs shirt this season. Yet neither his international team-mates nor manager Southgate were particularly bothered. All of them are well aware that the best is yet to come from north London’s finest. Lallana, 28, added: “Dele is not even 21 yet. It is important that we don’t get carried away. But he would have expected to score that chance against Germany. “But these things happen and Marc ter Stegen is a world-class keeper.” Despite the missed opportunity, Alli was man of the match against the world champions – just as he was 12 months ago ahead of Euro 2016. Alli may have taken stick for being red-carded as Spurs crashed out of the Europa League last month. But boss Mauricio Pochettino has also made it clear that he is keen for him to retain the cheeky arrogance in his game that sometimes winds up opponents. Lallana agrees: “That’s what makes him Dele. All players have different attitudes that make them what they are and that’s why he is unique and a special talent.” Former England skipper Paul Ince knew a thing or two about putting his foot in and tips Alli to follow Rooney into eventually wearing the captain’s armband. Ince said: “At the minute, we haven’t got many obvious leaders with the character and strong mentality needed for England to be successful. I think Dele Alli is one who is psychologically strong. “He’s young, but you can groom him into being England captain. He’s going to be a top player, and the armband might give him some responsibility. “Dele is still growing up, which is why he does the odd silly thing. “Giving him the captaincy would help him grow up faster and cut out a bit of the petulance. “I don’t think he should be captain now – Gary Cahill is the obvious choice for the next World Cup – but one day I could see it really bringing the best out of him.”