‘A senior player lost it with him’ – Dele Alli’s boyhood manager recalls pinning ex-Spurs ace against wall

A heated exchange in the dressing room between Dele Alli and his former manager resulted in the latter losing his temper and pinning the player against the wall, according to recent reports.

Alli was once considered one of the top young footballers in Europe, but has struggled to find success in recent years. The England international is currently on loan at Besiktas in Turkey, but is unlikely to make the move permanent.

Despite criticism of his performance, former MK Dons manager Karl Robinson believes Alli is simply misunderstood. To illustrate his point, Robinson recounted a well-known argument with the struggling midfielder that occurred at Stadium MK.

Robinson told talkSPORT when asked about Alli:

“If you look at the data, he’s one of the hardest-working, highest distance-covered players playing. I think that his persona can sometimes look flippant. He can look laboured, but he always had that. I remember pinning him up against the wall at times. I remember him being dragged [into] a dressing room once by a senior player because he had this look on his face which was a smirk – I lost it with him and a senior player lost it with him as well.

“He wasn’t smirking, it was just him. I remember speaking to him after and he said, ‘Gaffer, I wasn’t trying to be rude or disrespectful.’ When you listen to him you go, ‘Oh, okay, I get you a little bit more.’ The more you’re with him and the more time you spend with him, the more you understand him and the more he is a kind and caring human being.”