Former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch feels Dele Alli will have been ‘totally deflated’ by being left on the bench against Burnley yesterday.
Spurs showcased a new attacking verve with Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Heung-min Son starting together.
Lucas Moura played in Dele’s favoured number ten position and netted Tottenham’s third goal of the game.
Dele replaced the Brazilian after 66 minutes of the 4-0 win but Crouch suggested Alli should have started in the Daily Mail.
“I was at Tottenham last Wednesday, and I thought Alli was superb. He had a glint in his eyes, he looked hungry and a class above,” wrote Crouch. “His quality shone through and it was a reminder of how good he can be.
“So I could understand why he would have been frustrated yesterday. He hasn’t featured in nine of Tottenham’s Premier League squads this season and that is too much absence for a player of his class.
“He shouldn’t be left to rot, he shouldn’t have a career that is just drifting aimlessly. We aren’t privy to what is happening behind closed doors and we have to respect why Jose Mourinho is making these calls.
“But I expect Dele would have been totally deflated at being on the bench against Burnley. If you add Dele, you have a (Tottenham) front four as exciting as anything in the country. I hope he gets another chance.
Lucas did get on the scoresheet so it’s difficult to be too critical of Jose Mourinho’s decision to play him over Dele.
But there’s an obvious spot in the team where Dele could come in and play in his favoured position.
Mourinho went for the jugular yesterday in a way we have not seen too often from Spurs this season.
We’ll see if he does the same against Fulham in midweek. In their last meeting, Spurs went 1-0 up and then sat back, allowing Scott Parker’s side to equalise late on.
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