Tony Cascarino says he felt sorry for Dele Alli during Tottenham’s defeat to Liverpool

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Tony Cascarino says he felt sorry for Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli in Saturday’s Champions League final against Liverpool.

According to the Game pullout of the Times on Monday 03/06, page 11, Cascarino attempted to shield the £100,000 a week (Spotrac) England man as he acknowledged the critics circled after the 2-0 loss.

He said: “Dele Alli got a lot of criticism on Saturday night for the way he played but I felt sorry for him – the way Pochettino set them up just did not suit Alli.

“He was being asked to try to work with scraps of possession that came from Spurs’ long balls. I would like to see him impose himself more on games – but I would say that about the whole Spurs side.”

It’s been a strange season for Alli – he remains a talented player but has not hit the heights for club or country in truth.

In the absence of some of Spurs’ other top players at times this season, he hasn’t stepped up and grabbed games by the scruff of the neck.

But he’s still a young player and there is something in Cascarino’s analysis that he didn’t really get the service to feet on Saturday night.

He needs to come back stronger next term – and a major contribution to England winning the Nations League would be a good place to start and the ideal way to forget the heartbreak of Madrid.