He didn’t do himself any favours.
Not so long ago, Dele Alli was a central part in the post-match analyses of Premier League pundits because of his skill and goalscoring prowess. Recently, however, he has been getting the wrong kind of attention.
Many observers highlighted his reckless challenge on Kevin De Bruyne’s during Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City last week, in which the Belgian was lucky to avoid a serious injury (he instead got to his feet and scored seconds later).
Against Burnley, Alli got everyone talking again.
The England international’s challenge on Clarets defender Charlie Taylor received a yellow card from referee Michael Oliver, but a significant number of people on Twitter believed he was lucky to escape a red.
Dele Alli doing vicious tackles left and right…
Meanwhile British media: Raheem “rich prick” Sterling buys his mum a sink!!
— AK (@MCFC_ATK) December 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/Kolasnator/status/944635260809203713
https://twitter.com/ajs_ajsblue1/status/944632124602224641
https://twitter.com/BasedChasen/status/944630411761672192
https://twitter.com/ZeFutbolWriter/status/944622308441972736
That was after just three minutes, meaning the consensual opinion was that he shouldn’t have been on the pitch to win Tottenham’s penalty. Alli went down under the challenge of Republic of Ireland international Kevin Long and, while it was naive of the defender to dangle a leg in the box, Alli certainly made the most of it.
The penalty incident seems to be more divisive. While Long seems to have impeded the Spurs playmaker, Alli doesn’t appear to go down in a natural manner.
It’s a matter of opinion. However, it should be noted that it may be worrying to Spurs fans that Alli doesn’t seem to be helping himself. Considering the backlash for his horrible challenge on De Bruyne, diving in for the ball with Taylor after just three minutes wasn’t the smartest move.
Whatever way you look at the two incidents in question, Alli continues to be at the centre of debate – and it’s not his football people are talking about.
If you look up 'Dele Alli' in a dictionary, you'll find it right there between deception + dive#BURTOT
— Bᴜʀɴʟᴇʏsᴛᴀᴛs | Dave Roberts (@DLRbrts) December 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/amcgovern25/status/944635996762787842
Jermaine Jenas has just gone out of his way to say diving is fine, just to condone Dele Alli. Blimey.
— Limpar33 (@Limpar33) December 23, 2017
Was it naive of Long to dangle a leg in the box?…Yeah. However, that doesn't make it a foul. Dele Alli purposely throwing himself (diving) into the leg is what made the ref give the penalty. Some may call it clever play, I prefer to give it its proper title: cheating! #BURTOT
— Lukeyash (@LukeAshworth5) December 23, 2017
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