- Jul 29, 2004
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Mourinho really wanted him while at United. He was delighted he was here when he came in.Yeh, I agree with that you are saying but there is something not right there as well if that makes sense?
When Mourinho first game in Alli looked like he would run through walls for him, it also looked like Dele had lost his relationship with Poch, which makes me think maybe Dele is the problem and maybe the environment is. Maybe, he finds gaming and modelling a lot less work for his money than football.
But, with all that said and done there is something else that really has struck me with Dele.
He reminds me a lot of me growing up, I didn't have the best childhood and I had to pretend to be the tough guy, also the guy that is always laughing and joking "putting on a brave face".
To me he looks like a young lad who has had a really tough upbringing throughout it he has played the rough and ready tough guy, on his way to the top he has cut ties with people and tried to focus himself this all comes at an emotional cost.
He then suffered the nasty hamstring injuries, this knocked his confidence and mental confidence more he was also a player that was consistently praised under Poch for training hard?
He, was known for being super fit and being able to run for days.
More recently in the last year or so I really cannot remember seeing Dele smiling joking or giving interviews or playing up for the cameras for the clubs social media etc, there is a battle going on with him and I personally think he has some inner demons that are really effecting him not just mentally but physically as well and the guy is burnt out.
Personally I think he is battling a form of depression or mental illness or addiction (gaming etc), he needs an arm around him and a change of scenery (personally, I would love to see him lose Harry Hickford who has made a life out of being Dele's adopted Step brother who also seems to love the highlife he needs some new advice in his year before its to late.)
The other thing I have noticed big time about him is he's gained a huge amount of muscle mass (those of you that know me you know I have a huge problem with this in sport see my posts re bale going years back). He has probably done this either through training really hard when he was out injured or per instruction to prevent injury but sadly strengthening the core on players to prevent hamstring injuries/back injuries does not always work.
The problem is when you do this it can cause a lot of issues within the body A) lactic acid B) oxygen levels the more muscle you own on your frame the more oxygen your body needs to get them all firing I think this has also cost Dele his athleticism he's carrying a heavier frame about the pitch and tiring a lot quicker (this may change as he gets used to this frame or when he loses it). But this also changes Dele's natural body that he was born with which he has used to play football all his life he may just find his body isn't the same anymore and he is struggling to do what he wants to do as he physically can't do it. (he even said himself in an interview not so long back he can't treat his body like he used to).
To fix that I think we have to let his body go back to its natural gait and let him see where it takes him.
Personally, yesterday I got so upset with him when he didn't put Bale through I was angry at him for the whole of last night and for his performance as a whole but then I took a step back and looked through some footage of Dele of old etc, and being someone who has recently struggled with his own mental health and is now coming back through the other side of it I kind of want him to turn it all around as to me its obvious there is more than just football going on here there is a young guys mental health on the line.
I think Dele of old has enough great moments in the bank to warrant us fans sticking by him and giving him some patience and support to try and find himself through this first major difficult part of his career.
We demand loyalty from our players but we are the first to throw them under the bus when they suddenly stop hitting the highs we are used to, Dele could have downed tools and gone wherever he wanted a few years back when he had the world at his feet but he stayed. Maybe it's just time for us fans just for once to back a player through a tough patch.
Football its a fickle old sport eyh?
Then he watched him train, which obviously has caused issues. Look at what he's been saying recently about N'dom. How he's been training really hard and forced Jose to change his mind.
So many excuses being posted for Dele, but perhaps it really is the case he just isn't putting the effort in. He certainly isn't trying hard enough when he's afforded match time.