View: Ancelotti would have big job to reignite Dele Alli form if Everton sign him
Danny Murphy caused quite the stir on social media this week when he claimed Everton are a good club for Tottenham outcast Dele Alli to sign for.
Speaking to talKSPORT on Tuesday, the former Liverpool midfielder claimed Alli, 24, “would be good business for Everton“, suggesting an attack containing him Richarlison, James Rodriguez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be one to keep a close eye on.
We have no doubt that Alli could be a star at Goodison Park if a shock move like that was to materialise but Carlo Ancelotti would have a big job on his hands to help reignite the player’s form.
The former MK Dons midfielder, capped 37 times by England, has played just three times in the Premier League this season for Spurs and hasn’t started since Jose Mourinho’s side lost to Everton on the opening day of the campaign.
Alli’s been restricted to playing mainly in the Europa League with him playing four times in the group stages, scoring one and assisting one goal in the process to help Spurs qualify for the knock-out rounds.
According to stats by Wyscout, the England international has averaged 2.89 shots per 90 minutes in those Europa League games, hitting the target with 55.6 per cent of then. He’s also averaged 4.5 touches inside the penalty area and 3.21 passes into the box per 90 minutes.
Although Alli’s not been in the Premier League side on a regular basis, he definitely had a big impact in Europe even though the North London side had a relatively easy group containing Antwerp, Ludogorets and LASK Linz.
Maybe it is better to look at Alli’s numbers from all competitions last season.
Wyscout shows that the midfielder completed 79.8 per cent of his passes, completed 61 per cent of his passes into the penalty area, hit the target with 48.9 per cent of his shots and averaged 2.62 touches inside the box per game.
The image below shows how Alli’s started to go backwards in some areas of his game.
For instance, since 2017/18, the midfielder’s shot accuracy got better and better until going backwards this term. Pass accuracy has stayed fairly similar but isn’t as good as it was in 2018/19. His passes into the penalty area are a lot less accurate and while his dribble success has improved vastly this term, we think that is down to him playing against weaker teams in Europe.
Alli’s only 24-years-old so it is not as though his career has gone completely down the pan. He still has time to address his lack of game-time at Tottenham and also his dip in form.
Would we like to see him do that at Everton?
If Ancelotti and the board are willing to remain patient over a potentially expensive player then we would be all for a move. But we don’t want to see them sign a player and give up on him within a couple of months.
We’ve seen what Alli is capable of and know he could be a star.
In other Everton news, Mark Lawrenson has predicted the result of Everton’s game against Leicester on Wednesday.