Entertainer Alli can add that crucial magic touch
SPURS STAR HAS X-FACTOR
JUST across the road from Wembley the X Factor live show was being filmed at Fountain Studios. If England’s performance against Malta on Saturday had been put to a public vote, they could well have been eliminated from the World Cup there and then.
Interim manager Gareth Southgate called on his players to put on a show and go for goals in the tournament qualifier against the world’s 176th-ranked side who conceded five goals to Scotland in their last match. Instead, it was another uninspiring win against weak opposition.
England are in dire need of their own X-factor, although if anyone is showing signs of providing it then it is Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli — the 20-year-old who would not look out of place in one of Louis Walsh’s boy bands — winning his 14th England cap that evening.
Wayne Rooney provided that touch of magic for a decade but his powers are waning and playing further back he was little more than a spectator against Malta. Steven Gerrard used to have that ‘wow’ factor, too.
Against Malta, Alli had a header well saved on 22 minutes but he scored the second goal, poking home the loose ball after seeing his first effort parried.
He also shot over from close range in the second half when Marcus Rashford fizzed in a cross. Afterwards he was asked if he could be England’s entertainer. ‘The Entertainer?’ Alli said with a smile. ‘I hope so. I like to enjoy the game, have fun and express myself.
‘That’s the kind of thing Gareth said to us before the game. I’ve always been looking to get goals and assists and to do that I need to be higher up the pitch.
‘I missed a few chances, but I’ll put that behind me and keep on improving.’
Alli certainly has no fear factor. Whether it is helping League One MK Dons dismantle Manchester United 4-0 in a League Cup tie when he was 18 or taking on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for Tottenham recently.
‘ I’ve always thrived under pressure of the big games,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I get afraid about. I enjoy playing at Tottenham and England as well.’
Mauricio Pochettino, the Tottenham manager, has instilled in him some midfield positional discipline so that he can resist the urge to drop back if he is a No 10, or the compulsion to fly forward when he is supposed to be in a holding role.
Against Malta, Southgate told him to stay in the space behind Daniel Sturridge and the more he develops the more it feels like his future lies in that advanced role. ‘I like to play anywhere,’ he said. ‘If I’m playing higher up the pitch it’s important I don’t get carried away and start dropping too deep and I stay in my position.’
He equally has no intention of curbing the aggressive element in his game which has been known to get him in trouble. Alli is as comfortable further back as a more reserved midfielder as he is in behind a striker.
‘Aggression is something that is a part of me and I’m never going to take that out of my game.
‘I need to control it more but I had to make the mistakes I did last season to learn from them. It was my first season in the Premier League and it’s a lot different from League One.
‘I made the mistakes and I learned from them. I’ll continue to tackle back. I want to help the team as much as I can and if I need to get back and defend, I will.’
Alli was also full of praise for Southgate, saying: ‘He told us to go out there and express ourselves, not to worry too much and to keep playing football and not get carried away.
‘I think every manager is different in their own way. He is a great manager and I look forward to working under him.’
Asked if he wanted to see Southgate handed the reins on a permanent basis, Alli said: ‘It isn’t my decision to make but he is a fantastic manager.’