Dele Alli needs to heed the warnings about his temperament, according to former Spurs and England midfielder Darren Anderton.
Dele missed thursday’s win over Slovenia through suspension after being handed a one-match ban by FIFA for making an offensive gesture against Slovakia last month.
It was yet another incident in Alli’s unfortunate knack of getting into trouble, with him already sitting out the first three games of Tottenham’s Champions League campaign following suspension for a dangerous tackle he made back in February.
An article by talksport says that our talented star often reminds Anderton of David Beckham and his red card in 1998 against Argentina
“I remember Becks was a special talent and he had that bit about him,” said Anderton.
He continued “I remember Glenn Hoddle even warning Becks at Le Tournoi the year before. He got booked in a couple of games for something a bit petulant and Glenn said: ‘if you do that next year it could cost us’.
“Now of course the next year it happened. I don’t say it was down to Becks, I think it was down to poor refereeing and gamesmanship. But Dele needs to listen and be aware it can happen.”
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Alli has yet to really match the form of last season and Anderton feels that the controversies that are following him are perhaps distracting him
“I think people should give him a bit of a break,” said Anderton, speaking on behalf of Official England Team Sponsor Vauxhall.
“He’s only young. It’s ridiculous what he’s done already at his age and part of why he’s done that is because he has that bit of devilment in him.
“At some point maybe you need to curb that but my argument would be when Wayne Rooney curbed his anger and temper he probably wasn’t quite the same player.
“He just needs to channel it in the right areas and be told, ‘we can’t have you missing games and being sent off. We need you on the football pitch’.”
Anderton believes Gareth Southgate should build his side around a Spurs nucleus.
“I don’t want to blow Spurs’ trumpet too much but when you look at what Spurs have, it’s pretty special,” Anderton, who spent 12 years at Tottenham, said.
“Why not try to build a team around that? I think back to when I played for England. At Euro 96, we had good players, leaders, but we also had a club mentality.
“It felt like we were playing with our mates. That’s a massive thing and if you can get it, it can only help.”
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