Former Tottenham midfielder, Jamie O’Hara has lambasted Spurs’ boss Jose Mourinho for taking a swipe at his ward, Dele Alli, noting that the Portuguese coach could kill the player’s confidence.
Alli fell from the pecking order in Mourinho’s preferred options in the midfield. The 24-year-old has only featured in four Premier League matches for Spurs, with his further seven outings coming in cup competitions.
He came off the pitch for Erik Lamela in the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie on Wednesday, after registering a quivery performance which he was later castigated for.
However, Spurs went on to win the game 3-1 courtesy of Ben Davies and Harry Kane’s late strikes but Mourinho singled Alli out for criticism in his post-match interview.
“For me, a player who plays in that position is a player that has to link and create and not create problems for his own team,” Mourinho told reporters.
O’Hara expressing his sympathy towards Alli, feels the England international has been unfairly treated by the Spurs’ boss.
“I think Mourinho’s doing a great job but I don’t like the way he’s treating Dele Alli,” the former Spurs midfielder told talkSPORT.
“What do you expect from the boy? You’re not playing him, he’s not been involved, he’s hardly getting on the bench never mind starting.
“Alright he made a mistake and they score but I don’t think he was really poor in the game; he works hard.
“I just think when you’re coming out and digging a player out in the press, he’s a young player, I think he needs to help him.
“What’s he gaining coming out in the press and digging out that single performance? It’s just killing his confidence more.
“He’s an investment for this club, he’s an asset to the club. Whether he’s in your plans or not you don’t want to kill his confidence much so that you totally lose him.
“He did alright, he made things happen. In that number 10 role you have to link up and make things happen but I don’t think that’s Dele Alli’s game. He’s a player who makes that run beyond and scores goals off the back of people.”
