View: Dele Alli might have extended his Everton career v Leicester
Not many Everton fans would have expected Dele Alli to come on last night and play as crucial a role as the midfielder did in the 1-1 draw against Leicester City.
The out of favour Blues ace has had a tough start to life on Merseyside since joining from Tottenham Hotspur in January.
However, with Frank Lampard desperate to turn the game around, he turned to the 26-year-old to come off the bench.
“We needed a goal and he has trained well,” Lampard told Express. “It is not easy to demand from players who are not playing so much to come in and have an impact but you have to train well to show your manager you deserve a chance and he has done that.
“Clearly he has done that in training, and then you get your bit of luck or something happens for you and that happened with Dele. He deserves it.
“He ran into the corner, he bullies someone and gets the ball back into the box and we score off it. I was really pleased with that part of it from him and hopefully, that can be a big starting point for him.”
Catalyst?
This could be exactly what the former England international needed to kickstart his Everton career as eluded to by the boss.
Alli looked like a man possessed for the part he played in the Toffees equaliser, he undoubtedly had a massive point to prove after his abysmal start to his Toffees career.
You would struggle to find him show that type of energy during his several months at the club so far and hopefully, it is a sign of more things to come.
The former MK Dons star’s future at the club looked all but certain to be other at the end of the season but he might just be mounting a fight-back at Finch Farm.
Lampard claimed he trained really well ahead of the Foxes clash and backing that up with a good performance against Brendan Rodgers’ side has left the Evertonians nicely surprised.
If he continues to show that grit and determination that is expected from all Blues players, he might just buy himself some more time at the club. If all goes well from now until the end of the season, he might be awarded a full pre-season with the team to get up to speed and from there, who knows?
It would be amazing if he could return to his world-beating best whilst playing for the Blues.
In other Everton news, the Blues are to axe several senior players in summer for “hungrier” alternatives according to Chris Beesley.
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