Share

Tottenham’s Dele Alli intends to stay grounded after dream start for England

Lingard, [Dele] Alli, [Eric] Dier; they are talented lads and they could go on to be internationals, but they are nowhere near ready. I never really started thinking about England.

Advertisement

“Our philosophy here is to give a chance to the younger players, if they deserve to play and show that they are able to play in the Premier League”.

“If you’d told me that in the summer that I would make my debut as a midfielder, I’d have thought you were insane”, the latter said with a laugh.

The game between England and France was being played in an eerie atmosphere following the tributes to the victims of the Paris attacks before kick-off, and it needed something special to raise it from the status of an exhibition game.

The problem Hodgson now has is trying to maintain the momentum he has built. England do not play until March and for that reason he wants to spend an afternoon with his players to keep the team spirit generated because of this good run intact.

“(FA chief executive) Martin Glenn has had a meeting with the people at the Premier League but it was more the executives”, Hodgson said when asked about the winter get together.

Gary Lineker, someone who knows plenty about scoring goals for England and Spurs, tweeted: “I think we’ve found one”.

“I am just going to go back to my club and keep doing as well as I can and whatever happens, happens”. To be honest there wasn’t an enormous amount of opposition to it last time around.

“I’m not suggesting everyone has to do that of course, that is ridiculous, but a lot more water needed to go under the bridge before you got a cap”.

England will continue their high-profile build-up to the Euros by taking on Germany in Berlin and hosting Holland next March.

“It was close to a faultless performance”, he said of the Spurs star.

Meanwhile, Hodgson also was delighted to see Kane and fellow striker Wayne Rooney suggest they can work in tandem in the game against France.

The Tottenham midfielder marked a first start for his country with a maiden worldwide goal, finding the top corner with a long-range effort via a slight deflection off Laurent Koscielny.

Advertisement

However this campaign Dier has been utilised in a defensive-midfield role by Mauricio Pochettino, a position he seems to have taken to with earnest.

Dele Alli celebrated his first England start by scoring the opener in the victory over France at Wembley