Conte comments on Dele Alli playing different role against Southampton for Spurs

Antonio Conte has commented on the performance of Dele Alli after Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Southampton. 

Spurs were held by the Saints in a frustrating stalemate at St Mary’s which saw the home side battle for over a half with 10 men.  

Alli, 25, was named in the Spurs line-up for the encounter as part of three changes made from the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace. 

His role in the team was slightly different than usual with Conte electing to deploy him to the right of a front three next to Harry Kane. 

However, he struggled to have a meaningful impact on proceedings and failed to get anything going offensively before being replaced by Lucas Moura just after the hour mark. 

After the draw, Conte admitted Alli was propelled into the line-up as part of some necessary rotations to his squad having played just 48 hours ago.  

Asked about playing Dele in a different role against the Saints, Conte said (via Football.London): “He played like a midfielder, like a number eight, we started to play with Winks in front of the defensive line, on the left, Hojbjerg, on the right Dele. He did in the same way like the others.

“Today I decided to make three rotations after the game against Crystal Palace. Davies for Tanganga, Winksy for Skipp and Dele for Lucas.

“Don’t forget we faced the Covid and many many players were affected with the Covid. I had to try to manage the situation in the best possible way. I decided on these three rotations, that’s all.”

Spurs Web Opinion 

Alli obviously wasn’t being played in his most comfortable position, but he could have still made things work in what was still a solid team around him. It just seems like there isn’t a role for him in the team anymore and an exit is drawing closer with every game. 

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know