Tottenham star Dele Alli has priceless competitive streak, says Mauricio Pochettino

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_19 December 2018

Dele Alli possesses a-money-can't-buy competitive streak according to his manager, Mauricio Pochettino.

The Tottenham midfielder was at his devilish best as he set up on and scored another in Spurs' 2-0 north London derby win against Arsenal.

The victory books Tottenham a place in the EFL Cup semi-finals where they will take on London rivals Chelsea.

Wednesday was another big game in which Alli came alive, and Pochettino will want exactly the same from him come the Chelsea clash in January.

"Dele is very competitive. He loves to compete. In easy situations he gets bored easily. In training he gets bored easily if you don't put in opposition and you push him to compete, because he's an animal, a competitive animal," Pochettino said.

"When he feels so comfortable when he's in a very competitive space and situation he always gives his best.

"That is a quality he has and you cannot buy that in the supermarket of course."

Alli's brilliance brought out an unsavoury moment from on Arsenal supporter, hurling a bottle from the home end as the midfielder went to collect the ball for a throw, striking him on the back of the head.

"I cannot talk in general because only one stupid person made a mistake," Pochettino added.

"I respect the Arsenal fans, like I respect the professionals from Arsenal and I respect our fans. For one you cannot talk about everyone.

"I hope that Arsenal take responsibility and through the camera they can identify because it wasn't a problem but it can happen to be a big problem, some big issue and how are we going to fix it?

"I think Arsenal are going to take some responsibility to identify the people. I cannot say nothing, because always for one cannot pay one million."

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