Everton midfielder Dele Alli has only himself to blame for lackluster performances – Darren Bent
Former England striker Darren Bent believes that Everton midfielder Dele Alli’s slide in his career is down to him only.
The England international is reportedly edging closer to completing a move to Turkish club Besiktas [Telegraph].
Bent, while talking to talkSport, said that it is time that Alli should look in the mirror as “whatever happened to him is down to him only”.
“You know what, it’s difficult because and I know a lot of people will say they feel bad about him but first and foremost, Alli should look in the mirror,” he said.
“Because what happens to him is down to him alone. Whether it is work ethic, attitude towards the game. It could be number of things. I don’t know him personally.
“I don’t know [what went wrong] but I don’t see the same motivation, the same hunger. He had a brief little spell when Jose Mourinho came in but then he started to leave him out and so did the other managers who followed him.”
Disappointment
Alli’s career trajectory will remain a big talking point for years to come as he went from one of the most followed midfielders to a player who is not even wanted by any big club in England.
The attacking midfielder arrived at Tottenham Hotspur with a big reputation and delivered the goods in his early years under Mauricio Pochettino.
But soon after, his numbers gradually started to decline. Many thought that Pochettino had a role in his decline and expected the player to rejuvenate his career under Jose Mourinho but that didn’t prove to be the case.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether he will be able to regain his glorious form of the past or will he become one of those players who peaked too early in their careers and never managed to keep up with the expectations.
If the deal will go through, he will leave the Merseyside club after making just 13 appearances where he could not score a goal or provided an assist [Transfermarkt].