DELE'S WAITING GAME
Alli has to prove he’s worth a starting spot
GARETH SOUTHGATE has warned Dele Alli there are no guarantees he will be in his firstteam plans for the World Cup.
Alli was hailed as the saviour of English football when he burst onto the scene in 2015, making his international debut after playing just 10 games for Tottenham.
He was compared to former England and Spurs star Paul Gascoigne.
But his rapid rise from League One to the top of the game has hit the buffers this season with his progress stalling for both club and country.
Spurs’ attacking midfielder has scored one goal in 2018 and played only 22 minutes for England in the four friendlies since October.
In that time Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have seized their chance to impress Southgate as he gets ready to name his final 23-man squad for Russia.
Nursing
Alli is certain to be in it – but whether he will line up against Tunisia in the opening group game in Volgograd on June 18 is open to debate.
England boss Southgate insists people shouldn’t read too much into his decision not to start Alli in England’s warm-up games against Holland and Italy as he has been nursing a knee problem.
But he admits he will be monitoring his club form in the build-up to the World Cup.
Southgate said: “Dele is a very important player and he wasn’t able to finish every session this week. We had to manage the problem he had when he came into the camp.
“We have great competition for places, but he is well in that mix.
“I have a problem because there is a huge choice and I have to make those choices. I am an England manager and I have to make those decisions.
“There is no reason he will not come and he can make a huge impact there. He has so much ability and I am looking forward to seeing him over the next few weeks.
“His relationship with Harry Kane in the team is also important. We want competition for places, but there is no ulterior motive for leaving him out. We wanted to look at Raheem again in that No.10 position.
“It’s a bit like Kyle Walker, it’s a bit like Oxlade-Chamberlain. There are others we wanted to learn more about and we wanted to protect Dele with his little problem.”
Southgate piled praise on Sterling for his impressive performance in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against the Italians.
It was also a gentle reminder to Alli that he needs to raise his game.
He said: “It was nice to see because if we play 3-4-3 he can play No.10, as he did versus France last year, but could he play as one of two forwards because he plays on the wing for Manchester City?
“We know he likes playing through the middle, though, and he enjoys that.
“He had a little spell at Liverpool where he was behind Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, running and dribbling through the middle of the park.
Nod
“We have seen his numbers this year. He is playing with confidence, speaking with confidence. We have a lot of these lads – Raheem, Dele, Jesse – they are expressive players and they need to feel freedom on the pitch.”
Southgate will name his World Cup captain at the same time as finalising his squad, but already knows who his first-choice goalkeeper will be.
Everton’s Jordan Pickford played in Friday’s 1-0 win over Holland and is expected to get the nod ahead of Stoke’s Jack Butland, who started against Italy.
That leaves 75-cap Joe Hart going to Russia as third choice.
Falling down the pecking order will be hard for Hart but Southgate insists there have been no problems with his attitude.
“He’s been really good,” he said. “I’ve been really straight with him throughout.
“He’s a good leader to have around and he’s understood everything completely. He’s played that role really well.
“If we had to play tomorrow, I think we know which way we would go.
“But we’ve another eight or 10 league games to go. We have to keep monitoring people to see where they are at confidence wise, because it is very tight.
“All four of the keepers, in their different roles, have contributed to the team.
“The two lads that played have given two solid performances.”