Alli aware he’s not yet the greatest
DELE ALLI admits it is an honour to be compared to his hero Steven Gerrard after his late strike preserved Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the league campaign.
But the midfielder insists he needs to become more clinical in front of goal if he is to be placed in such exalted company.
Alli’s rescue act brought comparisons not only to the Liverpool legend but to Frank Lampard.
The 20-year-old was in no mood to bathe in self-congratulation, though, and said Spurs would have secured a victory had he been calmer in front of goal.
“It is always nice to get a goal but I feel like I could have had a few more given the chances we created,” he said. “I should have put away a one-on-one in the first half. Then it would have been a different game.”
At 20, Gerrard had only just scored his first senior goal for Liverpool. At the same age, Alli is central to Spurs and England.
“Being compared to someone like Steven Gerrard, who is a hero of mine, is an honour, but I have to keep working for the team and trying to do as well as I can,” said Alli.
Alli’s late goal cancelled out one from ex-Spurs midfielder Nacer Chadli in a scrappy game the visitors dominated.
For all the plaudits heading Alli’s way, no one staked a better claim for man of the match than Baggies keeper Ben Foster, who produced a string of quality saves.
Spurs and Carlisle are the only two unbeaten sides in the top four divisions, but Alli said the team were disappointed here. “We
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dominated from the start and it was a case of not putting away our chances,” he said.
“It is tough to take. We felt we should have left with three points for all that there were positives to take.”
There were also negatives, notably a knee injury to Toby Alderweireld after an accidental clash with Jan Vertonghen.
Mauricio Pochettino was vague about the extent of the injury, insisting Spurs would know more today, but he is out of tomorrow’s Champions League trip to Bayer Leverkusen.
For West Brom there were several positives, including Foster’s heroics, a fourth goal in five Premier League matches for Chadli, and the return of Chris Brunt after eight months out injured. “Ben has made some fantastic saves,” said Brunt. “We were disappointed not to hang on but if someone had offered us a point we’d have taken it.”
It will not be lost on Chadli that it was Alli who again eclipsed his moment in the sun, having found himself nudged out of the picture at Spurs by the youngster’s emergence.
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REPORTS MAN CITY EVERTON RONALD KOEMAN ‘mugged’ Pep Guardiola then predicted his pal will bounce back against Barcelona.
Koeman expects Guardiola’s return to his spiritual home on Wednesday to be a different affair to the smash-and-grab raid that earned Everton a point at the Etihad.
The Dutchman was proud of his team’s resilience but was blown away by the quality of City’s play. And he believes they are good enough to get a result in the Nou Camp – if they can keep the triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez quiet.
“City are strong enough as a team to get a good result but the trouble is you are playing against Messi, Neymar and Suarez,” said Koeman.
“The individual qualities of Barcelona are extremely high. But City can beat them. It is the best game you can watch between two teams who share the same philosophy. It will be a high standard. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Two draws and a loss have slammed the brakes firmly on City’s 10-game winning run but Koeman says Guardiola should not be too concerned because of the way the team are playing.
Only the brilliance of keeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who saved penalties from Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, and made two even better stops to deny the same players, kept City at bay.
We didn’t put away our chances