DELE ALLI has blamed himself for his Tottenham exile as he failed to criticise former manager Jose Mourinho.
The 25-year-old started just twice under the Special One in the Premier League during the 2020-21 campaign.
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In the 32 top-flight outings Mourinho was in charge for prior to his dismissal, Dele played just 233 minutes of football.
That is a stark contrast to his game time under interim head coach Ryan Mason, where he featured in 385 minutes having started the final five games of the season.
But despite not getting a look in under the Portuguese gaffer, Dele has refused to blame Mourinho as he insisted he enjoyed working with him.
He told Goal: “The only person I blame is myself.
“I should be performing at a level where it is difficult to not put me in the team or not play me.
“I don’t blame anyone but myself.
“Working with Mourinho was a great experience and one I learned a lot from.”
In an effort to keep his place in the team under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Dele has been training during the off-season.
And he has revealed that he is taking inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo with the Juventus striker keeping himself in peak physical condition at the age of 36.
He added: “I think everyone in football idolises and respects the amount of work that Ronaldo does.”
Dele recently shared snaps of himself on Instagram of him working out in Portugal.
Captioning the post, he simply stated: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I’m ready.”
