Dele Alli has admitted that his first response to Mauricio Pochettino's sacking at Tottenham was to blame himself, reminiscing about the 'amazing journeys' he shared with the Argentine.
Alli arrived early in Pochettino's tenure, coming in from MK Dons for a fee of around £5m in January 2015, going back on loan to Milton Keynes for the rest of that season but bursting into the first team at White Hart Lane early in the following campaign.
Just when you think you're ok, Dele Alli sends everyone back into tears pic.twitter.com/Xse8GehWx4
— Tottenham News (@Spurs_fl) November 25, 2019
The midfielder became a key part of Spurs' midfield and England's World Cup semi-final side in the years that followed, and admitted that he was sad when Pochettino was fired last week.
“When it first happened, you just blame yourself,” Alli said, quoted by The Telegraph. “You are sad and don’t look at the big picture. We have had some amazing journeys together, we have all grown together, all the players and coaching staff.
“We have achieved a lot in terms of where we have come from. We are thankful to them, you can’t help but feel you are a bit to blame. I gave 110% and sometimes it does not work out. The chairman made his decision. Now as players we have a new manager, we owe the club a lot and we have to start winning games again.”
The England midfielder continued:
#thfc Dele on Mourinho's "Dele's brother" comment: "It actually the first thing he said to me. It was funny. It was nice for someone to say it [criticism] to my face rather than behind my back."
— Dan Kilpatrick (@Dan_KP) November 25, 2019
Source : 90min