Dele Alli has urged Tottenham supporters to be patient amid the club’s poor recent form, but admits he suffered “sleepless nights” after last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal.
After winning their first three Premier League games of the season, Spurs will be trying to avoid their fourth straight defeat in the competition when Aston Villa come to north London on Sunday.
The 3-0 loss in the north London derby was a particularly concerning result and performance, and although Tottenham bounced back with a 5-1 thrashing of NS Mura in the Europa Conference League, there is still much to improve.
That’s according to Alli, who spoke eloquently to SpursTV after the game on Thursday night, calling for patience but confessing just how much losing to Arsenal hurt the squad.
“It’s hard for us to take,” said the 25-year-old. “We know much it hurt the fans but believe me it hurt the players just as much, if not even more.
“For me personally, being subbed at half-time as well – a couple of sleepless nights. We know what we have to do. To keep working, to believe in the process, everyone at the club, the fans, the players, they have to believe in what we’re doing.
“There’s a lot of things we know we need to work on. And I go back to saying this, it’s not going to be a click the fingers and we’re back to where we want to be.
“It’s a process and we believe it in as players and coaching staff, and as a club we believe in it. We’re happy with last night but we move on.”
It’s promising to hear Alli’s determination to improve but Tottenham fans will want to see those words translated into performances.
The midfielder won and scored the penalty that gave Spurs the lead against NS Mura but he struggled to make much of an impact after that – it will be interest to see if he starts this weekend.
