Dele Alli’s revelations about his childhood and addiction struggles in a brave, honest interview with Gary Neville this week have seen the Everton attacker receive a massive outpouring of love from across the football world.
His on the pitch issues in recent years have been widely documented and it’s easy to forget just how good the former Tottenham man was at the peak of his powers.
We have decided to look at three of the best moments of his career so far. Here’s hoping in a few years time, we can add more to this list and the 27-year-old can regain his form.
Moment 1 – Audacious Volley vs Crystal Palace
Having signed for Tottenham in February 2015 from MK Dons, the then 18-year-old was initially loaned back to his former club before joining up with Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the start of the 2015/16 season and he made an impressive start to his English Premier League career with five goals and three assists in his first 18 games.
In January 2016, Spurs found themselves in an unlikely title race with Manchester City, Arsenal and rank-outsiders but eventual champions, Leicester City, as they headed across London to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. With less than 10 minutes remaining and the game seemingly heading towards an anti-climactic 1-1 draw, the attacking midfielder truly announced himself to the world.
Harry Kane’s slightly misplaced cross field ball forced Christian Eriksen to cushion a header into Dele’s path, who calmly controlled the ball in the air, flicked the ball back over his head to avoid the onrushing Palace defender before turning poetically without taking his eyes off the ball and striking a volley ever so sweetly into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
It was voted goal of the season later that year and it made everyone sit up and take notice of the extraordinary talent possessed by the young Englishman.
Moment 2 – Brace vs Chelsea at Home
Having established himself in the first team at White Hart Lane, Dele’s Tottenham side had progressed enormously under Mauricio Pochettino as he built a young squad that was the envy of managers all over the world. Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, Christian Eriksen and of course, Dele Alli played some incredible football as they looked to bring some much sought after silverware to Spurs.
In January 2017 eventual title winners Chelsea arrived at the Lane in search of a then-record 14th successive Premier League win (a record that is currently at 18 by both Man City & Liverpool) only to come up against a determined Tottenham Hotspur side eager to show their own title credentials.
We all knew what he could do with this feet but Dele showed his versatility by scoring two identical headers from two identical Christian Eriksen crosses to end the Blues long unbeaten run and reignite that season’s title race although it would ultimately end in a fruitless endeavor for Tottenham.
Moment 3 – Brace vs Chelsea Away
For all of Tottenham’s advances in the previous few seasons there was still one ground they just could not win at; Stamford Bridge.
All of that changed however in April 2018 when a Dele Alli masterclass finally ended a 28-year hoodoo in west London for Tottenham.
It looked to be the same old story for Spurs as Alvaro Morata gave the home side the lead with a rare goal for the Blues but Poch’s men rallied with Christian Eriksen equalised with an exquisite strike from range to leave it level at the break.
Just after the hour mark, Dele Alli struck twice in the space of four minutes to send the away fans into delirium, first collecting a pinpoint long ball from Eric Dier with the deftest of touches before flicking it past Willy Cabellero in the Chelsea net with what looked like the same motion.
His second goal was less beautiful but they all count the same, after Eriksen (who was also immense on the day) set Son in behind the defensive line, a scramble ensued but when all around were losing their heads, Dele kept his to slide the ball home and secure a famous win for the North London outfit against a bitter rival.
