‘Nobody expected that’: Sam Allardyce says midfielder Tottenham let go has really shocked everyone
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Sam Allardyce has been discussing Dele Alli’s decline in recent years after leaving Tottenham.
Once upon a time, the midfielder was seen as the brightest young talent in England. He won two PFA Young Player of the Year awards and he looked set to become an absolute legend at Tottenham.
However, somewhere, somehow, something went wrong with Alli and he hasn’t looked like himself for a number of years now.
Allardyce says that Alli’s decline has really surprised him and everyone else within the game, stating that nobody expected his career to go off the rails in such a manner.
Allardyce stunned
The ex-Bolton boss gave his verdict on Alli.
“It’s a real waste of talent that. A raw, outstanding talent. He came on as a sub in that game I had (for England), and he turned the game in our favour to win it. There was nothing wrong with him when he got on the pitch, he was outstanding,” Allardyce said.
“You see players generally have a dip a bit younger when they breakthrough so young, but he was so established and such a big part of Tottenham’s success, if you can call it success, and then nobody expected that. I don’t know whose responsibility it was. As a manager I’d have asked what’s wrong, because it had to be off the field.”
Shocking
Allardyce says that nobody predicted this career path for Alli, and he’s absolutely right.
Come to think of it, it’s hard to remember any player having such a massive decline aside from players who suffered career-altering injuries.
Alli, of course, had some injury issues, but nothing truly major, but he’s declined in a way that we very rarely see.
It’s shocking what has happened to Alli, but at the age of just 26, he still has time to get back on track and fulfil his potential.
