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Pundit Paddy Kenny has told Dele Alli to ‘sort himself out’ if he wants to get back to his very best at Tottenham.

The attacking midfielder was one of Tottenham’s best performers during the Mauricio Pochettino era. His best season came in 2016-17, when he managed 18 Premier League goals in 37 appearances.

Alli’s form made him a vital part of the England squad. He scored once at the 2018 World Cup as the Three Lions reached the last four.

But the 25-year-old has suffered from a dip in form in recent seasons. He went the whole of the 2020-21 campaign without registering a single league goal.

Alli admitted that he had been difficult to manage during Jose Mourinho’s time in north London.

Nuno Espirito Santo seems to be giving the playmaker a chance to impress. He has featured in six of Tottenham’s seven Prem matches so far.

Kenny thinks Alli needs to rediscover his ‘fire’ if he wants to become a top player once again.

The former keeper told Football Insider: “He came out himself and said he’d been difficult under Mourinho.

“Whether he needs to move on and have a fresh start, only he can know. But he needs to sort it out.

“If that’s still the case under a new manager, who he should be trying to impress, then his time’s up.

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“Maybe even just living in a fresh area could make a difference. He just seems to have lost that fire that made him so good when he was younger.”

Alli originally joined the north London club from MK Dons in 2015. His arrival was viewed as a statement of intent from chairman Daniel Levy with regards to the future.

The player has more than paid back his £5million fee but needs to start scoring regularly if he wants to regain the full support of Tottenham fans.

Tottenham defender reacts to 1-0 win

Spurs centre-back Eric Dier says his team need to ‘keep calm’ following a troublesome few weeks.

They have been beaten by London rivals Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal in recent outings.

A win against Aston Villa was desperately needed on Sunday and Nuno’s men managed to pull it off. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg got on the scoresheet during a 2-1 win at home.

After the match, Dier told reporters: “The way we reacted to the 1-1 was really important.

“We maybe could have started the second half better, it is something we still need to improve on but the reaction to the 1-1 was fantastic and we really put our foot on the gas and created a lot of chances and got the goal.

“One hundred per cent we believe [in the manager’s plan]. We have to keep calm, we had a tough couple of weeks under difficult circumstances.

“We were missing a lot of players, we went to Crystal Palace – injuries, sending offs, we really lost our balance there – and then we had two disappointing results.”

READ MORE: Euro Paper Talk: Tottenham told a fat ‘no’ as Klopp battles Pep for lethal striker

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