Alli reveals sorrow at Pochettino departure

An emotional Dele Alli yesterday spoke about his heartache at Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking as Tottenham boss.

Pochettino was fired last week after a poor start to the season and was replaced by Jose Mourinho less than 12 hours later.

Alli was a key ally of Pochettino, having been brought to the club from MK Dons as an 18-year-old by the Argentinian, and was one of several players who went to visit their former coach.

“It’s clear to everyone how much Poch meant to the players,” he said ahead of tonight’s Champions

League clash with Olympiacos. “Being here for nearly five years he has seen me grow as a person and helped me a lot.

“I came here as an 18-year-old, new to it all and I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs here but he’s helped me through it all. I can’t thank him enough.

“I felt it was important as soon as I saw the news. I was very upset but I tried to get in contact with him and the next day I went to see him.

“It was just a conversation between two friends. He has helped me through a lot. I’ve seen him more than I see my own family in the last five years, so it was very tough.

“But this is football and things change all the time so we know what we have to do. We have a job to do, we have to move forward.

“But for sure he is someone I’m going to stay in contact with.

“It will be different because he’s not the manager but he’s an amazing person and helped me so much throughout my career, not just in football but in life as well.

“When it first happened... you just blame yourself, you are sad and don’t look at the big picture.”

Spurs can reach the knockout stages tonight if they avoid defeat at home to the Greek side and Red Star Belgrade fail to beat Bayern Munich in Serbia.

Dele Alli: Brought to the club by the Argentinian manager.