Dele Alli has not exactly been enjoying the best season.
The England international has fallen out of favour under Jose Mourinho and just isn’t playing as much as he would surely like.
Thus far this term, he has played twice in the Premier League, featuring for 45 minutes against Everton before being substituted, while he also came on as a late substitute in the remarkable 6-1 victory over Manchester United at the weekend.
He was not even included in the squad for games against Southampton and Newcastle United.
Alli was also absent from the EFL Cup win over Chelsea, while he played an hour in the Europa League qualifying game against Shkendija and 45 minutes versus Maccabi Haifa.
His lack of minutes led to reported interest from PSG, with the French club attempting to take him on loan, though Spurs opted to keep him in north London.
Paul Robinson, the former Tottenham goalkeeper, believes that he now has the chance to prove his worth to Mourinho, and believes is treatment of the player is a motivational tactic.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “It was a strange one when he came on the other night against Maccabi because he was left out the League Cup squad, left out the Premier League squad after being dragged off at half-time (against Everton on the opening day).
“You thought the writing was on the wall and you wouldn’t have been surprised if he went to PSG during the window.
“We’ve seen Jose do this to players before, he clearly knows the quality that Dele Alli’s got but he’s not performed for the past 18 months or two years.
“Whether that’s the manager taking a different tack to try and get the best out of Dele Alli and to see how he responds.
“Now the window’s closed things will be a little more settled. There will be no more talk about his immediate future.
“It’s obviously a way of the manager getting his message across saying ‘look, if you’re not doing it, if you’re not working hard enough, if you’re not playing well enough, you don’t play but if you do, you do play.’
“It’ll be one to keep an eye on over the coming weeks to see where, and if, he features in his squads.”
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Robinson is absolutely right.
Alli has the opportunity now to prove exactly how good he is, and to work his way back into Mourinho’s plans.
It seems that the Portuguese has instituted a meritocracy in north London, as evidenced by the selections of Moussa Sissoko and Serge Aurier against Manchester United at the weekend, and it is clear how Alli gets back into the starting XI.
If he can knuckle down and prove himself both in training and whenever he is on the pitch for Spurs, Mourinho will continue to pick him.
It really is that simple.