[Football] Delle Alli: Where next?

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sent packing by Besiktas, not back wanted at Everton, where will he end up?

Given his off the field behaviour will any club in either the EPL or the Championship take a gamble?

Possibly the biggest waste of English talent?

Saudi or China, or even the MLS?

Something seriously wrong with him. I wonder what it is?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

"................ soon in the news for the wrong reasons, pictured with a balloon in his mouth while appearing to be surrounded by canisters of laughing gas. And whether he now remains at Goodison Park for the 2023/24 campaign remains to be seen..........."

Dele Alli gets parting shot from Besiktas as Everton misfit faces uncertainty

Dele Alli is back at Everton after an underwhelming loan spell at Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas last season, with the England international's future up in the air

www.mirror.co.uk

No info in those articles whatsoever. The reader comments are interesting, with big bold bollocks swiftly corrected by the next poster.

But still none the wiser....

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Both Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard footloose and fancy-free. Hollywood beckons...

Interesting you equate these two. I do too but possibly for different reasons.

Do you think they need to man up, or do you consider there may be other factors?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Doesn't "going off the rails" mean partying too much? As you say, for a professional footballer the bar is very low, especially during the season. Far lower than for us normal folk. If maybe I had a couple of lemonades too many on a Thursday evening and so coasted a little on the Friday then it isn't really a problem. If it happened every week then maybe it starts to be a problem. If it happened every Wednesday night too and was compounded with getting stoned and then sleeping over in the office in order to be there on time Thursday but then I hid in the server room to get over the hangover and on the Friday was too knackered to get out of bed, that could be considered going off the rails. For a footballer however, partying when a big game is coming up would be going off the rails. Frankly these days they would probably consider too much pizza in the week to be a problem, let alone getting less than 8 hours sleep without a horlicks!

Come on. We've all been there.

Edit: the bloke has gone from a world-beater to useless shit before age 27. There must be a reason. It will be more than shandy o'clock.

 

[Badger Boy]

Sterling arrived at City in 2015 and left in 2022, Pep arrived there in 2016. I'd say he wasted a bit of time getting rid of him?

Funny line, but Sterling's decline has been obvious in the last year. He lost his place last season and never got it back. He was sold as soon as it was clear he was past his prime. But Chelsea hadn't noticed.

 

[Bozza]

Funny line, but Sterling's decline has been obvious in the last year. He lost his place last season and never got it back. He was sold as soon as it was clear he was past his prime. But Chelsea hadn't noticed.

In his last season at City, 2021-22, he played 47 times and, with 17 goals, was the third top scorer behind Mahrez (24) and De Bruyne (19).

I'm not sure that's indicative of a player in decline, particularly given in the preceding (non-decline?) season he played 49 times and scored 14. Very similar.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

In his last season at City, 2021-22, he played 47 times and, with 17 goals, was the third top scorer behind Mahrez (24) and De Bruyne (19).

I'm not sure that's indicative of a player in decline, particularly given in the preceding (non-decline?) season he played 49 times and scored 14. Very similar.

Indeed. Perhaps City just felt he was not the best(-a) man they could get, even when he was in his flow.

 

[BadFish]

Funny line, but Sterling's decline has been obvious in the last year. He lost his place last season and never got it back. He was sold as soon as it was clear he was past his prime. But Chelsea hadn't noticed.

How can his decline be obvious against the backdrop of the basket case that was/is Chelsea. Every one of their players has underperformed, this surely suggests that it is something about the club rather than the 652 individual players.

You may of course be right that he is cooked and this is the start of a massive decline but until we see that happening at a club functioning effectively you can't say it is 'obvious' or 'clear that he is past is prime.

Well you can, and you did but I would disagree.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Doesn't "going off the rails" mean partying too much? As you say, for a professional footballer the bar is very low, especially during the season. Far lower than for us normal folk. If maybe I had a couple of lemonades too many on a Thursday evening and so coasted a little on the Friday then it isn't really a problem. If it happened every week then maybe it starts to be a problem. If it happened every Wednesday night too and was compounded with getting stoned and then sleeping over in the office in order to be there on time Thursday but then I hid in the server room to get over the hangover and on the Friday was too knackered to get out of bed, that could be considered going off the rails. For a footballer however, partying when a big game is coming up would be going off the rails. Frankly these days they would probably consider too much pizza in the week to be a problem, let alone getting less than 8 hours sleep without a horlicks!

I’m not suggesting he parties before big games. There’s no evidence I’m aware of to suggest this. I also don’t believe he’s “gone off the rails”. To me he just doesn’t seem a very dedicated and professional athlete. He likes the lifestyle, but not the effort.

 

[Happy Exile]

Interesting you equate these two. I do too but possibly for different reasons.

Do you think they need to man up, or do you consider there may be other factors?

The parental parallels are striking aren't they? And no surprise if the challenges are similar as a consequence. Also I mentioned earlier in the thread his agent has come into question for his possibly not great influence over him - I didn't realise his agent is Harry Hickford, the footballer mentioned here. No wonder Alli is so loyal to him. (From wikipedia, with some text snipped for brevity)

Alli was born in Milton Keynes, to a Nigerian father Kehinde and English mother Denise. Kehinde moved to the United States a week after Alli's birth. Alli was initially brought up by his mother, who suffered from alcohol problems. At the age of nine, he moved to Nigeria with his father, where he spent two years before returning to Milton Keynes to live with his mother.

At the age of 13, he moved into the family home of Alan and Sally Hickford, parents of another young footballer with MK Dons and whom he refers to as his "adoptive parents" although he was never legally adopted by them. In the summer of 2016, Alli elected to stop wearing his surname on his match shirts because he felt no connection with the Alli family name, instead opting for "Dele".

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I think the decline of Ali shows just how good Poch was as a manager for Spurs. No one got anything like that level of performance from him before or since. Danny Rose another example. Much like our current environment, Poch seemed to improve and coach players and he may well sort out the Chelsea mess. If anyone can, he can.

Sterling may benefit from this but I suspect not. His pace seems to have dropped off (his workrate definitely has) and I couldn't believe how poor he was against us. Football is littered with players who just aren't the same when their pace goes from Michael Owen to our very own Tariq Lamptey. I'd be surprised if he upticks next year but he's got a chance with Poch behind him.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Something seriously wrong with him. I wonder what it is?

Call me old fashioned (or even a dinosaur) but sadly it’s all down to his upbringing, car crash family life gave him ‘issues’ way beyond his footballing talent.

I would have thought Spurs would have learnt their lesson with Gazza, and had come kind of well being plan in place off the field, but instead they paid him thousands of pounds a week, leave a young lad in a big city to his own devices and expected him to behave like Prince William

 

[Taybha]

Not here,and that's all I have to say about that right now.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Come on. We've all been there.

Edit: the bloke has gone from a world-beater to useless shit before age 27. There must be a reason. It will be more than shandy o'clock.

why does there have to be a deep reason though? Most of us has know co-workers who can’t always be arsed and don’t always put the effort in. Footballers shouldn’t be any different. A failing career doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve gone off the rails or are depressed or whatever.

For most top athletes staying at the top takes a lot of dedication. I don’t see this in Ali.

 

[severnside gull]

Not here,and that's all I have to say about that right now.

Happily no-one has suggested it

 

[Stat Brother]

As Don Ohlmeyer will tell you:-

The answer to all your questions is money.

I don't understand the hand wringing and 'there's something really wrong', the boy is paid £100,000 a WEEK.

If you pay 100 people in every 'normal' walk of life from Acupuncturist to Zookeeper, £100,000 a week, but only for 6 years, most will be studious, some will be a little reckless and one or two will be completely weighed down by it.

It's human nature, you're not immune from being human just because you're very good at kicking a ball - money isn't the cure-all.

 

[GT49er]

No info in those articles whatsoever. The reader comments are interesting, with big bold bollocks swiftly corrected by the next poster.

But still none the wiser....

The info was that he was pictured blowing up a balloon (links to the photo are available), as indeed were Brighton players (see a post above). Whether that is the be all and end all of his misdemeanours I have no idea. Someone asked what he'd done wrong, and this was one example.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The info was that he was pictured blowing up a balloon (links to the photo are available), as indeed were Brighton players (see a post above). Whether that is the be all and end all of his misdemeanours I have no idea. Someone asked what he'd done wrong, and this was one example.

Quite. Doing something that lots of other players have done hardly give a clue to the player's spectacular demise. His loss of form is a spectacular as that of Ravel Morrison, albeit the extent to which Morrison is 'troubled' is well documented.

All I can find about Alli is that he had a horrendous childhood, abandoned by his dad, mother alcoholic, unofficially adopted by the family of a friend when age 13. Nothing there that might affect his outlook as an adult.

Oh, hang on.....

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Doesn't "going off the rails" mean partying too much? As you say, for a professional footballer the bar is very low, especially during the season. Far lower than for us normal folk. If maybe I had a couple of lemonades too many on a Thursday evening and so coasted a little on the Friday then it isn't really a problem. If it happened every week then maybe it starts to be a problem. If it happened every Wednesday night too and was compounded with getting stoned and then sleeping over in the office in order to be there on time Thursday but then I hid in the server room to get over the hangover and on the Friday was too knackered to get out of bed, that could be considered going off the rails. For a footballer however, partying when a big game is coming up would be going off the rails. Frankly these days they would probably consider too much pizza in the week to be a problem, let alone getting less than 8 hours sleep without a horlicks!

I think most users of NSC have seen the dangers and fall out caused by too much pizza in a short space of time

 

[chickens]

I think most users of NSC have seen the dangers and fall out caused by too much pizza in a short space of time

I knew of the obesity risks of pizza, and that too much weed could lead to paranoia and mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.

I only recently learnt of the links between pizza, weed and anti-semitism though.