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The soccer world is full of greats like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But it’s important to remember that for every Messi that comes once in a lifetime, thousands of soccer players never made it. That is why one trick ponies and one season wonder are very common terms used in the world of soccer.

Every season there’s a hot new prospect who has suddenly risen through a club’s youth system. One such prospect was an English soccer player, Dele Alli. In 2015, Alli was considered the next big thing in soccer.

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However, after his shockingly steep decline in the last two years, fans are now comparing him to Emma Raducanu.

Why was Emma Raducanu compared to Dele Alli?

British tennis player Emma Raducanu was also considered one of the names that would be up there with the tennis greats. Raducanu was considered the next future focal point of British tennis. However, she started to face severe health issues just months into her professional career.

Raducanu was very unfortunate with injuries as well. The youngster saw her brightest days from winning her first Grand Slam as a teenager to then dropping down the world ranks from 19th to 75th place.

Dele Alli has been around in the game for longer. The ex-Tottenham star is currently on a season-long loan at Turkish soccer side Beşiktaş FC. Recently, Alli was surprisingly subbed off just minutes before the 30-minute mark.

USA Today via Reuters

Alli faced something that every soccer player calls a nightmare. Alli’s team was playing Şanlıurfa S.K. in a cup game and were trailing 2-0. It was a shocking sight for both sides, because even Şanlıurfa couldn’t believe their luck. Şanlıurfa is a much smaller club that plays in a lower Turkish league.

While one fan compared the likes of Dele Alli to Emma Raducanu, there were some fans who recalled the famous words that Jose Mourinho once said to Alli.

Let’s have a look at what the fans had to say.

A major part of the fan reactions includes fans from all over the world expressing their grief for Dele Alli. Most of the fans believe that a downfall of this sort is unbelievable.

What did Jose Mourinho once tell Alli?

After being locally recognized at Milton Keynes Dons F.C., Alli was immediately picked up by the English soccer side, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Alli had his breakthrough season in 2015 for club and country.

Read More: Jose Mourinho Predicted the Sharp Decline of a Top Star Years Before it Happened

Alli’s career at Tottenham started off well. He scored a total of 28 goals in his first two seasons. The young English talent did well at adapting to a higher level of football. But that’s when the decline gradually started.

In 2019, Tottenham signed a deal with Amazon Prime to capture their entire season for the ‘All or Nothing’ series. In that series, Tottenham Head Coach, Jose Mourinho, once called Alli alone to his office and tried to motivate him.

This advice was considered a joke at that time. However, after the steep downfall, Alli had in the last two years, the advice that Mourinho once gave the youngest is now suddenly relevant. Mourinho said, “I’m 56 years old now and yesterday – yesterday! yesterday! I was 20. Time flies. And one day you’ll regret it, I think, if you don’t achieve what you can achieve”.

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He continued, “I don’t expect you to be man of the match every game or to score in every game. I just want to tell you that you will regret it. You should demand more of yourself, not me demand more of you, not me. Not anyone. You. You have to demand more from yourself”.

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Watch This Story: Tiger Woods Reveals What Makes Him Starstruck About Lionel Messi

It remains to see whether Dele Alli will ever rise up to those expectations again. Does Alli’s story remind you of any other sports player? Let us know in the comments below.