How ‘brother’ jibe prompted real Alli to answer call and come out of hiding

Mourinho quick to send a message to all players after revitalising one of team’s biggest underachievers

It was not only Dele Alli’s “brother” who was turning up in a Spurs shirt. All sorts of siblings, cousins and lookalikes were pulling on jerseys as the Mauricio Pochettino years fizzled out. The real players are now clocking back on. Now we know what Mourinho was doing when asked his biggest underachiever: “Are you ‘Dele’ or ‘Dele’s brother?’” He was sending a message to all his players. No more hiding. And ‘Dele’ responded with an improved performance topped off by a beautiful back-heel, right in front of his new manager, when he was on his backside on the touchline.

That piece of magic led to Tottenham’s second goal in a 3-2 win that was more comfortable than the scoreboard suggests.

“The piece of skill was amazing, but for me the thing that’s more amazing is the mental thing in relation to that,” Mourinho said. “You only do that if you’re focused, committed, ultra confident. If you have the bad feelings, the sadness, you don’t do that. The skill is amazing but it only comes from the emotional point of view when everything is positive.”

Alli will wake feeling Mourinho did a “number” on him. A good number, at that. A first away league win since January tells you just how far Spurs had fallen in the Premier League. But the team’s slide presented Mourinho with a big opportunity. Peppered across his squad are players who are better than they have looked; players who were detached or demoralised.

Task No1 for Pochettino’s successor was to get them motoring again. Mourinho went straight for the top, picking out his most talented