Perhaps, like Bono, Dele needs "The Edge"!
In his latest blog today, Norman Giller writes "Twitter twits should get off Dele's back", after experiencing loads of negativity on social media regarding the (alleged)poor form of Dele Alli. Dele incidentally is still just 21 and not 22 until next April, a full 6 months away. He has got more full England caps (22) than his age so far, and let us remember he is regarded as one of the first names on the team sheet (when available) by both his club and International managers. For a player so young, Dele has had a massive impact upon the National and International stage, and he is a player already known around the world.
I don't find myself exposed to the degree of negativity as does Norman, but I have seen comments regarding Dele's so-called disappointing performances so far this season. Dele has got three goals for the club, which is the same as he had at this time last year. I have to say that I still find him the player most likely to make something happen, whether it is a goal, an assist, or just the desire to play a full part in the game. I saw him up and down the pitch again on Saturday, and noted a clever flicked ball to Eriksen in the first half.
Many comments have been made so far about Dele being a player with "an edge", and perhaps needing that element in his game. Perhaps he has been cheesed off about his three match suspension which has kept him out of Champions League football so far this season, and his one match suspension for the raised finger episode with England. Maybe the manager is trying to get a little of that "edge" out of his game. Maybe he is unsettled because of his need to resolve his agent situation. Who knows? He still scored higher than Harry Kane in Saturday's spursometer.
The two players with most influence in the game shared our man of the match vote. They were goalkeeper and Captain Hugo Lloris who made two particularly great and crucial saves - one in each half - one of which I did not give full credit to in my match report. That was a save made low down, close to his body and to his left to push away a deflected corner. My report refers to a corner cleared with difficulty, and I have to out my hands up to missing Hugo's touch. The other crucial save was noted by yours truly, and that came from Jermain Defoe.
Christian Eriksen was our other man of the match, perhaps mainly on the back of his winning goal. Eriksen has also scored three club goals so far this season, but has even more (4) to his name for Denmark, having helped them to the World Cup play-offs next month.
We can't get away from the fact that our "home" form this season does not match that of last year. We won all four of the same home games we have played so far with a 13-1 goal difference. This season we have Won 1 drawn 2 and lost 1 with a goal difference of 0 (3-3). Our four away wins (12-2 margin) compensate of course. We are third, four points above both Chelsea and Arsenal, both of whom lost this week-end. That has to be good news, doesn't it?
Results 14-16.10.17
Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd
Burnley 1-1 West Ham
C. Palace 2-1 Chelsea
Man City 7-2 Stoke
Swansea 2-0 H'dsfield
Spurs 1-0 B'mouth
Watford 2-1 Arsenal
Brighton 1-1 Everton
S'hampton 2-2 Newcastle
Leicester 1-1 West Brom
Premier League Table - 2017-18
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Man City 8 7 1 0 29-4 25 22
2. Man Utd 8 6 2 0 21-2 19 20
3. Spurs 8 5 2 1 15-5 10 17
4. Watford 8 4 3 1 13-13 0 15
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5. Chelsea 8 4 1 3 13-8 5 13
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6. Arsenal 8 4 1 3 12-10 2 13
7. Burnley 8 3 4 1 8-6 2 13
8. Liverpool 8 3 4 1 13-12 1 13
9. Newcastle 8 3 2 3 9-8 1 11
10. West Brom 8 2 4 2 7-9 -2 10
11. S'hampton 8 2 3 3 7-9 -2 9
12. H'dsfield 8 2 3 3 5-9 -4 9
13. Swansea 8 2 2 4 5-8 -3 8
14. Brighton 8 2 2 4 6-10 -4 8
15. West Ham 8 2 2 4 8-14 -6 8
16. Everton 8 2 2 4 5-13 -8 8
17. Stoke 8 2 2 4 9-18 -9 8
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18. Leicester 8 1 3 4 10-13 -3 6
19. B'mouth 8 1 1 6 4-12 -8 4
20. C. Palace 8 1 0 7 2-18 -16 3
