Pochettino: Dele is a special player, now is the time to support him

Mauricio Pochettino defended Dele Alli after the midfielder was sent off for a dangerous tackle in Tottenham Hotspur’s latest European flop at Wembley.

The 2-2 Wembley draw meant that Tottenham were eliminated from the Europa League, having dropped down to the competition from the Champions League game.

Spurs only won one of their Champions League games at Wembley and this latest disappointment at the national stadium was largely thanks to the red card Alli earned for a high challenge on Brecht Dejaegere.

Alli was lucky to escape a red card in last season’s Europa League against Fiorentina and was retrospectively banned for punching West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Jacob in April last year. But the Tottenham manager insisted Alli needed support and not criticism.

“He is disappointed,” Pochettino said. “Sad. In football it happens. He knows he made a mistake and now he is trying to move on and improve, but in the future he must improve. He is only one-and-a-half years in Tottenham and the Premier League, and all he has achieved in a very short period is because he is a special player and a special boy.

“He has unbelievable personality and character, and for that he is a great player. But he is how he is and because he is very passionate to play football. Now it is time to support him because he is very disappointed and sad in the changing room.”

Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the Gent manager, said: “I don’t think he did it on purpose, but it was a red card. It was really dangerous. We lost our player also. This happens in football when both teams go 100 per cent in duels. He went full in the duel, but it was just too late.”

Tottenham only won one game in the Champions League and did not record a victory in the Europa League, and Pochettino said: “It is time for the club and players to improve. It is important for the club to always play European competition, but, for us, it is good to assess the squad and try to improve every season.”

Tottenham face Stoke on Sunday as they attempt to secure Champions League qualification for next season and can still look forward to an FA Cup quarter-final against Millwall.

“We need to move on and forget the Europa League and try to be focused on Sunday because the competition doesn’t wait for you,” Pochettino said.