Mauricio Pochettino defends Dele Alli following diving caution at Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Tom Collomosse6 February 2018

Mauricio Pochettino has jumped to the defence of Dele Alli after the Tottenham star was booked for diving against Liverpool.

Alli was shown the yellow card for his tumble at Anfield on Sunday and has since been criticised heavily for his actions.

Pochettino admitted the England man was “not perfect” but insisted the scrutiny on him was exaggerated. Pochettino said: “It happens. During different games, a lot of situations like this happen.

“The problem now is that we are so sensitive about the situation. And then we are so focused on Dele Alli.

“There are a lot of positives from Dele. Of course, he's not perfect. Nobody is perfect. Of course, he is a clever boy. He is a little bit nasty.

“Football is a creative sport, in which you need talent and a very smart brain. And now we are so focused on small details.

“I am worried that in a few years we are not pushing our sport into a very rigid, structured place – with the VAR, with being focused too much on the small actions like this (Alli’s dive).”

Pochettino is thought to be in favour of VAR to help with key decisions but wants the essence of the game to be protected.

His team face Newport in their FA Cup fourth-round replay tomorrow and the manager will rotate heavily, with his key players either left on the bench or omitted altogether.

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