Dele Alli
Dele Alli insists he holds no hard feelings towards Jose Mourinho despite his time in the wilderness at Tottenham under the club’s former manager.
Alli found himself in exile from the first team set-up under Mourinho for long spells, with many of his appearances only coming in the FA Cup and Europa League. And after being one of the central players in England’s run to the World Cup semi-final in 2018, Alli isn’t even in the England squad for Euro 2020.
Mourinho was frustrated by Alli’s application in training in the early days of his Tottenham tenure – as documented in the behind-the-scenes Amazon show ‘All or Nothing’ – but the 25-year-old holds no grudges against his ex-manager.
“The only person I blame is myself,” he said to Goal. “I should be performing at a level where it is difficult to not put me in the team or not play me.
“I don’t blame anyone but myself. Working with Mourinho was a great experience and one I learned a lot from.”
Mourinho admitted in an interview in Spain recently that former players of his may consider him ‘a b*****d’ because of his direct nature but it seems the Tottenham attacker isn’t one of them, despite widespread reports of bad blood between them at Spurs.
Early on in the ‘All or Nothing’ Spurs documentary, Mourinho told Spurs chairman Daniel Levy that Sir Alex Ferguson told him to buy Alli for Manchester United but since arriving at Tottenham, he was unimpressed by what he had seen.
“Sir Alex Ferguson gave me only one piece of advice in two-and-a-half years (at Manchester United) – buy Dele Alli,” Mourinho said, before quoting Ferguson. ‘”That guy, that mentality, the way he plays, the aggression he has in his mind, this guy is a Manchester United player. Buy that guy’. And he has an eye for players.
“But he (Alli) is not a good trainer, we need to find the right motivation for the guy.”
Mourinho also held talks with Alli in his office, trying to work out how to cajole the best form out of him.