Before the 2018 World Cup I met Dele Alli in the sports hall at St George’s Park, where England train. I said to him: “Do you realise how much ability you have got?”
Ever since I was a kid I would get an England shirt with a name on the back for a big tournament. I had Rooney in 2006 in Germany, Gerrard in 2010. In 2018, I got Dele’s name, that’s how much I admired his talent. He had everything. Physique, technique, genuine natural ability to go from box to box. He could run with it, pass, time his runs.
But he’s become this guy, four years on, who is unrecognisable. The initial criticism of him was: Is he too nice? The best in the world tend to be really ruthless with a devil about them that Dele didn’t have. I thought OK, no matter, he can still get to the top. Only three years ago he started for Spurs in a Champions League final.
