LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

Owen Hargreaves says Dele Alli stood out with Tottenham performance

Add as preferred source on Google

Owen Hargreaves named Dele Alli his stand out performer from Tottenham’s win in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Spurs secured an emphatic 4-0 victory at home to Ludogorets in the Europa League group stages, which is a result that keeps qualification to the knockouts in their hands going into the final two matches.

Carlos Vinicius (two), Harry Winks and Lucas Moura were all on the scoresheet for the North London club, as a much-changed side impressed on the European stage.

With 10 changes made to the starting XI, manager Jose Mourinho clearly had one eye on this weekend’s Premier League showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Alli was one of the individuals on Thursday given the chance to try impress and he’s someone that has played little season so far this season.

Hargreaves picked the 24-year-old as a real positive with his contribution:

“I thought Dele Alli stood out for me. I just think today we got to see when Dele plays with the chip on his shoulder, when he plays aggressive then also the flair bits come out as well,” Hargreaves told BT Sport 2 (9:55pm, 26 November). 

Tottenham Hotspur v PFC Ludogorets Razgrad: Group J - UEFA Europa League
(Photo by Ashley Western/MB Media/Getty Images)

TBR’s View:

After falling down the pecking order under Mourinho, it feels like Alli is under real pressure whenever he steps onto the pitch and it’s been a difficult campaign for him so far where he’s struggled.

But the English attacking midfielder showed great character in his latest display, as he laid on a brilliant unselfish assist for teammate Vinicius and certainly grew in confidence as the match went on.

Hargreaves mentioned the “aggressive” style that suits Alli’s game and he can get that fearlessness back if he plays more, which he’s given himself a chance of doing after his latest effort.