Mauricio Pochettino admits he likes that Dele Alli is a ‘little bit naughty’ and has compared the England international to himself during his playing days at Espanyol.
Allí, 19, has come in for criticism after appearing to kick out at a Fiorentina player during their 1-1 draw in the Europa League on Thursday.
The teenager’s rise to prominence has been absolutely remarkable over the last nine months. Alli was playing in League One at the end of last season, but is now a regular for Spurs and tipped to be a starter for England in the Euro’s in the summer, and Pochettino is reluctant to come down hard on the youngster.
“He’s a little bit naughty but it’s good. I like it. I was like that. I was naughty like him. I was sent off a lot in my career. At Espanyol, in 10 or 11 years, I had 13 or 14 red cards. It was a record,” the Spurs boss told Sky Sports.
“He played the whole second half with a yellow card. He’s clever, like me. Always my first action was a yellow card, and then I played better, I always played better with a yellow card than without a yellow card.
“He’s still very young and needs to learn a lot. He came from League one. But he is calm."
Of the 137 teenagers to have featured across Europe’s top five leagues this season, only Antonio Sanabria (10) has scored more goals than Alli (7).
For more stats on Dele Alli, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
