Dele Alli or Jese Lingard – Gareth Southgate’s Struggles
With the World Cup only three months away, Gareth Southgate has the challenge of pick his 23 man squad. He has problems all over the pitch with the goalkeepers being the main talking point. However, another decision the England manager has to make is who deserves to start between Dele Alli or Jese Lingard. I will look through both players and who should start for the Three Lions at Russia in June.
Dele Alli
After an incredible story, coming to the Premier League from League One and making his England debut three months after, the Tottenham midfielder has enjoyed his meteoric rise in the last two seasons and has drawn comparisons with Frank Lampard.
However, this league campaign has been a struggle for the former MK Dons player after he failed to score in 16 matches and his performances have dropped dramatically. Alli has been involved in 12 goals, 8 in the Premier League, compared to last season where he found the net 22 times in all competitions. But what the fans keep forgetting is that this is only his third full season in the top division. Also, the 21-year-old’s goalscoring form might have dropped but his contribution to goals has increased to 16 assists, being involved in 28 goals overall.
If you asked other fans if Dele Alli should start over Lingard then he would not be the most popular. This season he has attracted attention for diving which has not made him popular with opposition fans. However, his relationship with Harry Kane could help England to World Cup glory with each player understanding each others style of play. If Alli on top form then Kane would be scoring the goals.
Jese Lingard
Based on form and consistency, the Manchester United winger deserves to be in starting eleven in Russia. Lingard has struggled to earn a regular place in the Red Devils’ starting eleven over the last few years, but after gaining Mourinho trust, the England man has started 27 Premier League games.
The 25-year-old has been one of Manchester United’s best players this campaign and has made Southgate’s first-team selection even harder. Lingard has been part of a strange season with Mourinho after being knocked out of the Champions League by Sevilla. Now they sit 16 points behind Manchester City, with their rivals being able to win the league against them next week. Despite Man Utd’s struggling season, Lingard has been a shining light for them scoring 13 goals, 8 of which in the Premier League. His England performances this campaign have also alerted Southgate to a potential start in attacking midfield.
Despite Alli’s criticism this season, if you look at the stats between the two, Tottenham’s midfielder has been more useful than Lingard. But Lingard’s performance has come at more of a consistent base and has become a key player for Manchester United. However, Alli’s rather bad season has seen him be involved in more goals than Lingard. Despite the 21-year-old poor performances most of this season he is still more of capable to change a game within one minute.
The Fans’ Decision
The most important decision is the fans’, as they want England to do the best as possible. So if Gareth Southgate’s decision leaves fans angry then it might lead to the England manager becoming unpopular. So on Twitter, I ran a poll to choose between Dele Alli or Jese Lingard. I received 46 votes and the most popular decision was Dele Alli with 57%
A lot discussion this week about who should start for England at the World Cup, Dele Alli or Jese Lingard? #COYS #THFC #mufc #EPL #CHETOT #Premierleague #ManUtd
— Paolo Iantosca 🎙 (@PaoloIantosca15) April 2, 2018
So who would you start, Dele Alli or Jese Lingard?
Image used: Embed from Getty Images