Dele Alli has admitted that it has not quite been the same for him at Tottenham since Christian Eriksen left in January.
Eriksen left the Lilywhites to join Inter Milan during the winter transfer window with just six months left to run on his contract.
The Danish international had been a wonderful servant for Tottenham since his move from Ajax back in the summer of 2013.
He certainly built up a great understanding with the likes of Alli, with the former Ajax man often picking out the England international’s late runs into the box.
However, the 28-year-old’s form suffered in his last year in North London and he has struggled to turn things around since his move to Italy, coming in for criticism for several of his performances for the Nerazzurri (Tutto Mercato Web).
When Dele was asked by Rio Ferdinand in an interview with Copa 90 what his favourite position to play was, the midfielder revealed that he enjoys playing as a number ten but admitted he needed a player like Eriksen to pick his runs out.
The Spurs star said: “I’ve played in all three of the positions throughout my career, I have played six, eight and as a 10. I love playing as a 10, as I love scoring and assisting.
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“But it’s not the same, with the runs I make, if you don’t have a player like an Eriksen and the other players we have at Tottenham, that can see that run and can play the pass and it’s difficult.”
Spurs Web Opinion
After his first couple of seasons at Spurs, Pochettino preferred to play Dele as eight as he wanted Son to play up front alongside Kane. However, after Mourinho arrived, he immediately put Son on the left and Dele in the number 10 role behind Kane and I believe the Portuguese coach sees that has Dele’s best position. There is no doubt that Eriksen’s loss in form coincided with Alli’s numbers also going down in front of goal.
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