GIVE DELE A BREAK!

Remember Alli’s only 21 not 40, says Pochettino

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has told Dele Alli’s critics to back off.

The Tottenham boss insists his England star is entitled to make mistakes, pointing out that he is still only 21.

Pochettino admitted that he got things wrong when he was that age too – arguing that there is too much pressure on his young star.

Doubts have been cast about Alli’s commitment and lifestyle, as he has struggled to find the form that saw him voted PFA Young Player of the Year for the past two seasons.

He was left on the bench by England boss Gareth Southgate for the World Cup warm-ups against Holland and Italy, getting just 22 minutes of action in the first game.

Southgate revealed afterwards that Alli is no longer certain to start at the World Cup in Russia this summer, with Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard now above him in the pecking order.

Stupid

But Pochettino insists people should go easy on his player.

“I am not concerned with how we are going to manage him,” said the Argentinian boss.

“I have full confidence in him and his talent because I know him. He is a great kid and a very good person.

“But he is young. He is 21. If you compare him with normal people on the street who are 21, they are still living at home with their parents, they are still at university doing stupid things.

“Did I do stupid things at 21? A lot of things. You are going to kill me (if I talk about them) because my wife is going to see what I say.

“I did many stupid things – put yourself in the position of being 21 years old.

“Sometimes we expect too much and put too much pressure on 21-year-old players. Sometimes we forget and treat them like 40-year-old men. It’s not like this. We need to be focused on him being still a kid.

“It’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders and not always can he act how people and society expect. That is so important to understand.

“We are going to help him because he is a talented player and a great kid. He has done a lot for us and the club. And of course, we did a lot for him.

“But now it’s a moment to be supportive in our ideas, be consistent in how we are and help him to achieve all that he wants.

“For me, he is one of the best players for his age in the world, not only Europe.”

Accusations of diving and a tendency to lose his head have made him a target for abuse from rival fans.

He can expect more of the same against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, after being passed fit despite nursing a knee problem while with England. Pochettino insists he always knew Alli would struggle at some point after a stratospheric rise in the three years since arriving from League One MK Dons.

“The problem is that in the past two seasons, he was unbelievable, amazing,” he said.

“Younger players always have ups and downs. Expectation was massive because he was always increasing his level and improving and improving.

“This season the expectation was massive, maybe too high.

“For every player, sometimes there are tough moments. And you never know when they will arrive.

“In those situations, the most important thing from my side is to support him and help him. But not be funny with him or nice.

“Sometimes you need to push him and be tough with him.

“Those situations are in my manager’s room. We have a lot of chats to try to help because in the end it’s about trying to help a very talented player, an English player.

“You can see every time that we play away from home, the fans focus on him.

“It’s a moment to stop and try to help because, for me, Dele would be such an important player for England, not only for Tottenham.”