Should Pochettino consider Alli as a striker this season?
Had any Tottenham fan been told they’d sign Jack Clarke, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon and see the back of Kieran Trippier, Fernando Llorente, Michel Vorm and Vincent Janssen over the summer, they’d likely have accepted the window as a success. Yes, the failed Paulo Dybala transfer resulted in a disheartened fanbase come deadline day, but Spurs strengthened in key areas, which was crucial after a disappointing end to the season.
What’s more, the club retained the services of Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderwerield, for the time being anyway, as no English team is able to secure the pair until January at the earliest. That isn’t to say the former Ajax alumni won’t depart before the end of the month as European heavyweights cast watchful glances over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the pair proved their quality in this Spurs side as they got their campaign up and running with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
Spurs, though, made it difficult for themselves on home turf. It took until the final quarter of an hour to find a way past Tom Heaton as Ndombele picked his spot from 20 yards, albeit via slight deflection off Tyrone Mings. Harry Kane’s brace than wrapped up the points, but it was Eriksen’s performance that turned the game in the home side’s favour.
Mauricio Pochettino set his side up in a 4-3-1-2 formation in the first game of the season, with Erik Lamela occupying the number 10 role usually reserved for Eriksen. Spurs were blunt in the opening 45 minutes and looked far more threatening with Pochettino shifted to a 4-3-3 with Lamela and Lucas Moura flanking Kane before Eriksen’s introduction saw Villa’s resolve come to an end as the hosts reverted to a tried and tested 4-2-3-1.
If Spurs retain Eriksen’s services - that a big if at this stage of the season - then Pochettino isn’t short of midfield options coming into the campaign. It’s a stark contrast to the end of the previous campaign, where the Spurs squad was down to the bare bones for chunks of the campaign. Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks shouldered the responsibility with aplomb, particularly over the festive period, but Pochettino has a welcome selection headache in midfield on his hands nowadays.
Along with Sissoko, Winks, Ndombele, Lamela, Eriksen and Lo Celso, Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama are options in the midfield, while Dele Alli is still to return from injury. In such a packed midfield, though, it’s a mystery where Alli will play, even if Eriksen departs for pastures new. The England international has been hampered by a hamstring injury that saw him miss Spurs’ final pre-season friendly as they lost to Inter on penalties at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It’s the second injury of its kind this year as the 23-year-old endured a tough campaign. Indeed, Alli was restricted to just 22 league starts and while the obvious competitor for a starting spot will be with summer arrival Lo Celso, Pochettino may consider using Alli in a more advanced role.
Alli enjoyed a fine breakthrough campaign with Spurs, netting 10 goals and registering nine assists in his debut Premier League season and followed that up with his most prolific season to date as he scored 18 times in 2016/17. All in all, 42 goals and 29 assists in his top-flight career is a fine return for the youngster, who unfortunately has to play catch up as he seeks a rapid return to full fitness.
And it may be that Pochettino elects to not only use Alli as a midfielder, but an auxiliary striker in the coming campaign. Kane’s ankle injuries saw him make just 27 league starts and while Moura and Son Heung-Min are impressive in their own right no the frontline, Alli will afford Pochettino the unpredictability that comes from utilising his attacking awareness.
Alli is a player who maximises his attacking instinct to great ability and it’s this facet to his game that would add another dimension to Spurs’ game if he is pushed into a forward role. With Llorente and Janssen, the two previous senior strikers in Pochettino’s squad along with Kane, gone, the Argentine runs the risk of being caught short of a forward if the latter succumbs to injury at one point or another over the coming campaign.
Son and Moura are two relatively similar forwards, so in Alli; Pochettino would at least have a solid forward thinking player to call upon to fill the void if Kane is ruled out for an extended period of time. Having impressed behind Kane in the past, Alli at least has the knack of making late runs into the opposition box and the composure to put defences to the sword, so either as an out and out striker or a possible false 9 to link the play, Alli’s versatility could well be put to the test should Pochettino consider experimenting with the players at his disposal.
It’s a role, though, that Alli has played in the past, admittedly with a partner in a 3-5-2 formation, if only twice, but the results were far from favourable as Spurs lost 2-0 at Arsenal and 2-1 at Leicester in November 2017. In these defeats, Alli earned WhoScored ratings of 6.28 and 6.61, respectively, so it was a far from perfect example of his ability to play as a forward, but now almost two years older, the maturity to his game should begin to show through if he is required to lead the attack in the future.
With incredible competition for a starting spot in midfield, Alli will be cursing his luck that he is sidelined for a little while yet as Spurs aim to push Manchester City and Liverpool hard in the title race. Rather than have him primarily used as a midfielder this season, however, Pochettino may instead look to use Alli as competition for Kane on the frontline and if his goal record in the Premier League is anything to go by, it’s a possible long-term switch that both player and club may reap the benefits from.
