Marine 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur - 5 talking points as minnows go down swinging | FA Cup 2020-21

#3 Did the game do anything for Dele’s Tottenham future?

Dele Alli impressed tonight, but will his future still lie with Tottenham?

With the January transfer window now open, plenty of questions are swirling around right now regarding the future of Dele Alli.

The England international has barely played a part for Tottenham this season, only making a total of nine appearances before tonight. And with former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino now at Paris St. Germain, current rumors suggest that Dele could be ready to join him in France.

However, just as many rumors suggest that Tottenham don’t want to let Dele go. And so tonight, the attacker was given a chance to start – and hopefully impress – against Marine.

So how did he do? Well, after a bit of a shaky start, Dele was pretty great tonight. Sure, Marine weren’t exactly the trickiest opponents, but Dele had a hand in three of Tottenham’s first four goals. He also finished the game with an 86% pass completion rate and made five key passes, more than any other player on the pitch.

Based on tonight, I’d say it’s worth Jose Mourinho looking to keep Dele around and attempting to re-integrate him into Premier League action. It’s clear that he still has plenty to offer. And with Giovani Lo Celso on the shelf and Tottenham lacking creativity at times, Dele could well prove to be the ace in the hole that Mourinho needs right now.

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#4 Tottenham’s kids show that the future is bright at Spurs

Alfie Devine became Tottenham's youngest ever player tonight - and then scored his side's fifth goal.

Jose Mourinho might not have used as many young players as Aston Villa were forced to in Friday’s FA Cup loss to Liverpool, but he still made the most of tonight’s tie with Marine when it came to blooding academy products.

Midfielder Harvey White was given his first start in place of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. And while he won’t be dislodging the Dane any time soon, he still looked assured and calm in possession. Overall, White made 90 passes, with an impressive accuracy of 89%.

And the second half saw three more youngsters introduced. Of course, we know all about defender Japhet Tanganga – who broke into Tottenham’s first team last season. However, Jack Clarke showed that he’s an exciting – if raw – talent on the left-wing, in a speedy performance somewhat reminiscent of Manchester United’s Daniel James.

And most impressively, 16-year-old Alfie Devine became Tottenham’s youngest-ever player, and then scored a wonderful goal, cutting inside before firing home into the bottom corner.

Whether any of this trio can establish themselves on the first team or the fringes as Tanganga has done is still up in the air. But it’s clear that Mourinho trusts them. And with his reputation as a boss who doesn’t exactly give much time to young players, that’s impressive enough for now.

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#5 Will Tottenham now use Vinicius more often?

After scoring a hat-trick tonight, will Tottenham now make more use of Carlos Vinicius in the Premier League?

When Tottenham signed striker Carlos Vinicius on a season-long loan from Benfica, the feeling was that they finally had the backup for Harry Kane that Spurs fans had wanted for so long.

However, while he’s impressed when he has appeared this season – scoring three goals in five Europa League appearances – he’s largely been absent from Premier League action, making just two appearances from the bench.

Vinicius once again showed his worth tonight, though. He opened the scoring against Marine with two poachers’ efforts and then completed his hat-trick with a beautiful lobbed goal, all in the first half of the game.

Is the Brazilian as good as Kane? Obviously not; Kane is arguably the Premier League’s most outstanding player right now. However, it might well be worth giving Vinicius more minutes in the Premier League now, if only to give Kane a much-needed breather.

With performances like these, he should definitely have earned a crack, at least.