This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Dele Alli could be about to benefit immensely from Jose Mourinho’s appointment as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
The attacking midfielder had been drifting for quite some time under Mauricio Pochettino, scoring just five Premier League goals last season.
But he has the ability to thrive. In 2016/17, he scored 18 times in the top-flight, while also providing nine assists, having scored 10 the season prior.
Pochettino didn’t truly give Alli – who Transfermarkt value at £81m – the opportunity to play as a classic No.10, in that sort of role where he can float between attack and midfield and look to cut defences apart. Instead, he was part of a well-drilled defensive unit and that started in attack, as Pochettino obliged his side to press from the front.
But Mourinho has a history of bringing the best out of No.10s.
At Inter Milan, he transformed Wesley Sneijder into one of the very best players in world football.
As the Italian side won the treble, the ex-Netherlands international scored eight goals in all competitions but also provided 15 assists, including one in the final against Bayern Munich.
He was so good, that Sneijder finished fourth in the voting for the Ballon d’Or, behind Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
At Real Madrid, too, Mourinho brought the best out of Mesut Ozil, a player who has proved to be an enigmatic presence at Arsenal.
In 157 games under the Portuguese’s tutelage, the ex-Germany international registered 80 assists and scored 27 goals. In La Liga alone, in 2010/11 and 2011/12, he laid on no fewer than 38 assists.
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This is a player that, at Arsenal, managed 19 in 15/16 but in the league has managed just 21 in the three seasons since.
Mourinho, though, found a way to unlock his potential and one has to feel that he could do the same for Alli.
Go back even further, and Frank Lampard – albeit more as a late runner from a deeper position – finished up as Chelsea’s top scorer while Mourinho masterminded back-to-back Premier League titles for the Blues.
The England international is in a prime position; Christian Eriksen’s contract situation – his deal expires this summer – could well see him pushed to the peripheries and Alli has the ability to step in and become a hub of goals and assists from midfield.
That may require Mourinho using Alli in more of a 4-4-1-1 system than a 4-2-3-1, allowing him the freedom to play off the shoulder of Kane and at times form almost a flat pairing strike force, as the Spurs star did to great effect while Pochettino employed a 3-4-3 with Alli drifting in from the left.
But fundamentally, the role is the same – one of freedom of movement and the rest of the team being shaped around a single attacking midfielder’s qualities.
If history is anything to go by, Alli will thrive under Mourinho’s direction.