‘Not firing on all cylinders’ – Ex-Arsenal man claims Spurs star has room for improvement

Former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas believes Dele Alli can still improve despite Tottenham’s positive start to the season.

Spurs have won each of their first three Premier League games, and sat top of the table heading into the international break.

In just a short space of time, head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has come into the club and organised the defence, while deploying a midfield and forward three.

In that midfield three, Nuno has elected to use Dele alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp, who is fresh off a successful loan spell with Norwich City.

It is a slightly different role than Dele has been previously experienced, but he has been proving to be a useful body in midfield so early into the campaign.

But despite an upturn in his performances, ex-Arsenal man Nicholas believes the England international can still find an extra gear to build on his promising start to the season.

Speaking on the Where’s Jeff? Podcast, Nicholas said: “The change of manager, when you look back that’s the sort of thing you’d think Mourinho would bring to Spurs.

“Harry Kane finally admitted defeat and he’s staying at Spurs, and what you’ve got with Nuno is that he works with the organisation like he did at Wolves, and he knows he can play counter-attacking football.

“He’s got someone like Dele Alli, who is not firing on all cylinders, but at least he’s back in the team and feeling a part of it again.”

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Alli has been prominent in midfield to start the season, and has worked particularly hard when the team has been under a sustained bit of pressure during games. Nuno obviously trusts him in his midfield three, and he is proving his right so far. Nicholas may be right in that he can improve his attacking output to get back to where he was, but for now, his role is slightly deeper.

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