Mauricio Pochettino sends message of support to his former Tottenham player Dele Alli after the Everton man opened up on his struggles with addiction and childhood trauma
Mauricio Pochettino has posted a public message of support for Dele Alli as the Everton midfielder opened up on some of the heart-breaking struggles that have plagued his career.
Alli gave an incredibly honest interview with Gary Neville that was published on Thursday where he explained his battles with sleeping pill addiction and also harrowing childhood abuse.
The 27-year-old starred under Pochettino when the pair worked together at Tottenham, breaking through under the Argentine’s watch and becoming one of Europe’s rising midfield stars.
Alli enjoyed a meteoric rise as he went from MK Dons youngster to Tottenham first-team regular and was further honoured with the PFA’s Young Player of the Year award for his performances in the 2015-16 campaign.
He was later called up to England’s 2018 World Cup squad where the Three Lions made it to the semi-finals before crashing out under Gareth Southgate and Alli’s career began to spiral downwards.
Mauricio Pochettino (left) has sent a public message of support to Dele Alli (right)
The duo worked together and established a close relationship during their years at Tottenham
Pochettino (left) posted this message of support to Alli (right) on his Instagram
Pochettino was eventually fired from his position as Tottenham head coach in 2019 following five years in charge of the club and his player-manager relationship with Alli was brought to its end.
However the new Chelsea coach has shown that he still shares a close bond with Alli and joined other sports figures and royalty in offering a message of support.
The 51-year-old has previously been praised over his man-management skills and extended a comforting arm to Alli on his social media profile.
Pochettino posted an image on his Instagram of the pair together during their days at Tottenham with a blue love heart emoji overlaid.
An image of him on another Instagram story then emerged where he was seen pointing to a poster of the midfielder alongside another blue heart emoji.
The duo share a close bond and Alli praised his former coach during his interview where he also explained that he nearly retired while working with Pochettino’s Spurs successor, Jose Mourinho.
Explaining what it was like to work with Pochettino, Alli stated: ‘Mauricio Pochettino was the best manager and I couldn’t have asked for a better manager at the time.
‘I was in him and his team, you know, not just him. There was Jesus [Perez], Miguel [d’Agostino] and Tony [Jimenez].
Pochettino was also pictured pointing to a poster of Alli alongside a blue heart emoji
Alli (left) previously won the PFA young player of the year award while working under Pochettino
Alli (left) opened up on his struggles with addiction and childhood trauma on The Overlap with Gary Neville (right)
‘They are amazing people and they’re so understanding, and it wasn’t like a footballer and a manager relationship. It was deeper than that, I felt,’ he added.
‘He was just so understanding of the decisions I was making, and he was guiding – like, he cared about me as a person before the football, which is what I needed at that time. And I think that’s important for young players
‘When you go somewhere it can be quite scary, I think. And I never had that fear of, you know, trying to prove myself in that sense, because I felt like he was giving me the platform to express myself the best I could and to be comfortable.
‘I mean, players always used to say, ‘I want to be like that’ [fearless]. I wasn’t fearless. I was just brave. But I think being brave, you feel the fear still, but you still do it. And I think that’s something that he allowed me to do,’ said Alli.