Dele can join the game’s superstars at World Cup
Dele Alli could announce himself on the global stage if he lights up the World Cup for England this summer.
That is the view of his manager Gareth Southgate, who announced his 23-man party for Russia last Wednesday.
Alli’s name was always going to be included, even if the perception was he had not quite reached the same heights for Tottenham this season as previously.
He didn’t start either of the two friendlies against Holland and Italy in March, but it would still be a big surprise if he isn’t in the starting-XI for the opener with Tunisia on June 18.
For England to reach the quarter-finals, or further, in Russia and have what is generally regarded as a successful tournament, someone needs to stand out.
And Southgate believes the Spurs midfielder has the attributes to do it, although he brushes off any comparisons with the star of Italia 90, Paul Gascoigne.
“When you look at his number of goals and assists this year, Dele is right up there and certainly in terms of English players,” says the England manager.
“He is still only 22. That is nothing. His numbers are ahead of where Steven Gerrard and other people were at his age.
“I didn’t start him in March, but I said afterwards that he is a player that should, and I am sure will, have a big impact for us this summer.
“Dele then went and scored that outstanding goal at Chelsea the following weekend just to underline what he is capable of producing.
“I wouldn’t put his name in the same sentence as Gazza at the moment, but Dele can play either way.
“His huge strength is arriving in the box at the right moment and scoring goals. He smells an opportunity.
“Generally speaking, at MK Dons, and in our junior team, that was from midfield.
“At Spurs, the partnership with Harry Kane struck up a bit more and he has tended to come off the front into those pockets, rather than facing the game.
“You perform in a World Cup and that announces you to the world.
“That is the beauty of playing in an England shirt. You have the chance to make history in games that really matter, and that people will remember forever.”
Southgate certainly did that in his own playing career at Euro 96 – although he is most remembered for his penalty miss against Germany in the semi-finals.
Since then, England have lost four successive penalty shoot- outs which has become a millstone around the neck of English football and a national obsession.
However, the 47- year- old is trying to take steps to ensure that won’t happen again if the team ends up in a shoot-out in Russia.
“It is not chance and it isn’t luck,” he says. “It is about performing a skill under pressure.
“So there are preparations to improve technically and to work on how we want to approach that.
“We will go through some scenarios that put you as close to that situation as you possibly can. I think we should do that. It’s right to be as meticulous as we can be.
“But there is also a balance because we haven’t even got that far in the last few tournaments.
“We can’t take our eye off preparing correctly for Tunisia. That is going to be a really difficult game.
“They are ranked one place below us. They are not a team that are 40th in the world, they are 14th. So we have to get the preparations right, across every part of the game for every match.
“But we don’t want to just wait until the knockout stages to prepare for a penalty scenario.
“We started something around that in March, and we will continue that through the camp. I think it is then a better process than just throwing it in at the end.”
That game with Tunisia is still a month away, but Southgate insists he knows the starting-XI he wants.
“We know who we would select tomorrow,” he says. “But that is always a slightly moving feast.
“There is opportunity and one or two things we want to look at in training. And we don’t know how the players will report. There may be a couple of physical injury issues.
“We are not talking about a group of players where the difference in options is vast.
“It’s really competitive, which allows us a bit more flexibility in selection.”