Tottenham believe Dele Alli is very close to finding his top form

Dele Alli has only played 31 minutes of Premier League football this season for Tottenham, but Mauricio Pochettino expects that to change soon.

Tottenham have suffered to a very ugly start to their current campaign, and Dele Alli’s absence from the midfield has absolutely been a contributing factor to his side’s struggles. The good news for Spurs fans is that Mauricio Pochettino believes Dele is very close to rediscovering the top form that made him one of England’s brightest stars.

Football London carried Pochettino’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s fixture against Watford and quoted the Argentine boss as saying that he believes Dele is “very close” to finding the form he would like. That bodes well for his chances to feature in the heart of the club’s midfield against the Hornets.

Of course, it’s much more important for Dele to rediscover his confidence for an entire season than one single match. Look for Pochettino to treat him very carefully over the next few weeks. He won’t simply throw the English international into every match in the hopes of him finding a good performance. Instead, Tottenham will pick and choose which matches Dele will participate in and precisely what role he’ll play.

The question of his role is the more interesting query of the two. The impending departure of Christian Eriksen leaves the club in desperate need of a new No. 10. At his best, Dele can fill that void. He’s not going to play the position in the same way that Eriksen does, but he could take a healthy amount of the scoring burden away from Harry Kane. That’s clearly a best case for Pochettino and company.

At worst, they need Dele to once again be a player they can turn to when the attack grinds to a halt. So many of his goals over the last several years have come out of relatively nothing. That’s a quality Spurs could dearly benefit from at the moment. A goal or two here and there could make a massive difference in Tottenham’s place in the Premier League table.

The ultimate point here is that Dele needs to find success if Spurs are going to break free from their current doldrums. If you’re inclined to believe Pochettino, a breakout is just around the corner. That would be quite a welcome sight for Tottenham supporters.