Dele Alli shown clips of Mario Gomez as Besiktas boss offers lifeline

As long as Dele Alli produces on the pitch then I’ll be happy, says Frank Lampard

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Dele Alli is reportedly being shown video clips of former Germany striker Mario Gomez as Besiktas boss Senol Gunes attempts to steer him towards a decent spell of form. Gunes has previously admitted that Alli hasn’t met expectations since signing on loan from Everton during the summer, with the 26-year-old still a shadow of his former self.

Back in 2016/17, Alli joined an exclusive group as one of only four stars in Premier League history to pick up the PFA Young Player of the Year award twice. Wayne Rooney, Robbie Fowler and Ryan Giggs are the other three, leaving him in elite company. 

But since those first two seasons, Alli’s form has nosedived and a succession of managers have tried and failed to nurse him back to his best. The midfielder’s Spurs career died a slow and painful death until January this year, when he joined Everton on a conditional free transfer. 

Manager Frank Lampard welcomed him to Goodison Park with a warm embrace but the niceties didn’t last long as Alli broadly failed to make an impact in 13 Premier League appearances. 

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So uninspiring was his form, the Toffees saw it better to offload him to Turkish outfit Besiktas during the summer, rather than start paying transfer clauses to Tottenham which would have started to kick in after the 20-appearance mark. Despite being given a hero’s welcome in Istanbul, Alli’s performances have still left plenty to be desired. 

According to Turkish outlet FotoMac, manager Gunes holds regular meetings with Alli to analyse where things could be going wrong. Video analysis of Gomez supposedly forms part of the sessions after the German put together a prolific loan spell in 2015/16, scoring 26 goals in 33 league games. 

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Unlike Gomez, Alli doesn’t play up top but he made a name for himself as a goal-scoring midfielder who, in a similar fashion to England legend Frank Lampard, quickly developed a natural ability to time late runs into the box. During his first three seasons at Spurs, Alli notched 46 goals in all competitions. 

In stark contrast, since moving to Besiktas, Alli has scored once and failed to assist in seven league outings. Back in October, Gunes admitted that the arrangement wasn’t quite going to plan, acknowledging: “We haven’t touched Dele Alli yet. Let’s not discuss Dele Alli as a player, but he is below expectations in terms of efficiency.”

The desperate video analysis sessions also involve Nathan Redmond, who headed to Turkey in the summer after a six-year spell at Southampton came to an end. Like Alli, Redmond was a huge talent rising through the youth ranks but his exploits in front of goal gradually tailed off with age. 

Neither Alli nor Redmond were involved in the 2022 World Cup so they should be ready and raring to go for the resumption of domestic action on December 21. Both players featured in a friendly against Giresunspor on Thursday as former Toffee Cenk Tosun bagged twice in a 5-3 win. 

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