Jose Mourinho insisted he is full of “respect” for Dele Alli before the midfielder’s appearance against Maccabi Haifa last night. The 24-year-old came on as a half-time substitute, scoring a late penalty as Spurs romped to a 7-2 victory and progressed into the Europa League group stages. And Mourinho, amid speculation over Alli’s future, was full of praise for the player.
Jose Mourinho said “I am always tempted to play the players that work very hard and Dele is one of these guys, I only have respect towards him, he’s working very well and very hard, he’s ready. When we have on the bench the majority of players that play on Tuesday, he is the one who didn’t, so my first change today will be Dele, because he’s fresh and we’re going to need him.”