KEEP CALM CARRY ON, DELE
Alli’s masterclass against Real Madrid proves he is in Europe’s elite says Kane, but two-goal hero must not let emotions boil over
HARRY KANE has warned Dele Alli he must keep his cool to help Tottenham to glory this season.
Alli missed the first three games of the Champions League campaign because of a European ban and was also suspended for England after an obscene gesture during the World Cup qualifier with Slovakia.
The midfielder proved how important he is by scoring twice on his return in a performance which destroyed Real Madrid and showed Spurs can be genuine contenders in Europe. But Kane believes his team- mate for club and country must keep his temperament in check.
“Hopefully he stays calm and we will have him for the rest of the campaign,” said the striker. “It hurt him that he was banned for three games, as it would anyone. Especially missing big games – like Dortmund and Madrid.
“So you can see he was raring to go and what a performance from him. He was fantastic. He does it in the Premier League as well. One- v- one he can take players on. He’s a good finisher, he gets into the box.”
Kane also revealed Mauricio Pochettino spotted weaknesses in Real – Champions League winners in three of the last four seasons – during the 1-1 draw in Madrid two weeks ago.
“We looked at the clips at the Bernabeu, and we said if we’re better on the ball we can definitely exploit the spaces,” he said. “The whole team was fantastic, we all built around each other, and without the ball we made it difficult for them and on the counter we were very, very strong.”
Alli heaped praise on boss Pochettino for giving him and his team-mates the belief they can win major silverware, with the Premier League and Champions League in their sights. But he also feels the 3-1 win against Real shows Tottenham can beat anyone in Europe.
They have yet to lift a trophy under Pochettino, with the 2008 League Cup their last success.
Alli said: “The way he talks to us in the meetings – he gives us a lot of self-belief.
“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.
“We’ve been a bit unfortunate the last two seasons in the Premier League, coming second and third. It’s important we don’t get carried away with the way we played, we have to keep making sure we build together as a team, keep working together on the training field.
“I have a lot of thanks for the manager for putting the trust back in me by putting me in the starting eleven in the Champions League.
“Happy to get the two goals but more importantly it was a solid performance by everyone. We got the win.
“As a team we are confident in ourselves and whoever we come against we are going to want to beat.”