Former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has said that Dele Alli needs to learn from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi when it comes to reacting to on-field provocation.
Alli is set to miss the rest of Spurs’ season after accepting a violent conduct charge for his actions in Monday night’s 1-1 draw with West Brom – which saw him swing a punch into Claudio Yacob’s stomach.
Redknapp wrote in the Evening Standard: “To be fair, every time you see Yacob, he is always kicking people. He is a nasty midfielder who goes out to upset people. He would have gone out on Monday with the intention of winding Dele Alli up. Dele isn’t a shrinking violet and I like the fact he can look after himself in a game but throwing punches is obviously taking it too far.
“He needs that aggressive side in his game but he’s taken the bait with Yacob and he can’t do that. Dele is only a kid but he’s going to learn that he will get kicked every week because he is such an outstanding player. You have to try and take it as a compliment and rise above it like the very best do.”
He added: “Mauricio Pochettino is well placed to tell Dele not to respond to the Yacobs of this world because he used to be one! He got sent off 13 times as a player at Espanyol — they tell me that is still a club record there.
“I love Mauricio — he’s a great lad — but he dished it out often enough and he’ll know only too well that Dele will only make himself more of a target by reacting so he just has to get on with it. I’m not saying he is in this bracket, obviously, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are kicked from pillar to post all the time and you very rarely see them react.”
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