Mauricio Pochettino has labelled Dele Alli a “winner” ahead of Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan – and admits the midfielder gets “bored quickly” when there is no pressure on his shoulders.
It has been a big year for the 22-year-old, who helped Spurs to a third-placed finish in the Premier League before starring for England at the World Cup in Russia.
That’s the way Alli likes it though, according to his manager, who was speaking at a press conference ahead of Wednesday night‘s European clash at Wembley.
“He loves a challenge Pochettino said. “He is a winner. His mentality is that he gets bored quickly when he doesn’t feel the pressure.
“When he is under pressure he is unbelievable.”
Elsewhere, Pochettino is still feeling the pain of Tottenham’s mistakes in the transfer market as he prepares for a must win European clash.
Spurs will crash out of the Champions League if they fail to beat Inter at Wembley but Pochettino is concerned about a congested month of fixtures.
Injuries are taking their toll with a congested month of fixtures ahead and players such as Juan Foyth, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Vincent Janssen are not available in Europe because they had to be omitted from the original squad list.
“That is so painful,” said Pochettino, when asked about Foyth’s absence. “It’s a mistake we made which at this level of football we cannot repeat again. We need to find solutions before the start of the season. I was disappointed from the beginning.
“I told you we needed English players, but it was impossible and of course now that’s the problem and it’s so painful to have a player out of the list.
“We hope that in March we can do a new list and include him on the list of the Champions League. Not only him. Also N’Koudou and Vincent Janssen out of the squad for the Champions League.”