UEFA Champions League 2018/19: 3 reasons why Tottenham lost to Ajax

#3 Dele Alli was ineffective in midfield

Dele Alli seemed unsuited to the role given to him in tonight's game

I was tempted to write about Ajax’s performance here but in all honesty I wasn’t hugely impressed; the Dutch side outclassed Spurs for the first half an hour of the game, but slowed down dramatically in the second half and if Spurs had been able to carve out some better chances, the result may well have been different.

But Pochettino’s side couldn’t do that and part of the reason for their lack of opportunities came from the use of Dele Alli.

Pochettino decided on a 3-5-2 formation for this game, with Alli used as part of a central midfield that also included Christian Eriksen and Victor Wanyama, who played in a deeper-lying role.

But playing in this role simply isn’t the best use of Alli, who performs best when he’s playing slightly off a central striker – usually Harry Kane, who he clearly has a great on-field relationship with – and that shone through tonight as Alli was totally ineffective throughout the game.

Fernando Llorente is no Kane, but Pochettino should definitely consider playing Alli slightly behind him going forward, even if that means marginalising widemen Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son somewhat.

Playing in a more central midfield role stymies Alli’s game – as Gareth Southgate seems to have found out when Alli appears for England – as he doesn’t seem to be able to make his late dashes into the box or link with the forward line anywhere near as well.

With Tottenham’s squad already badly depleted, it’s important that they make the most of the players they do still have – and Alli could be a key man in the final stretch of the season.