Danny Rose has denied claims that Dele Alli is ‘lazy’.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former defender claimed that ‘laziness’ is not something you put next to the Everton man’s name after he received the label in Tottenham Hotspur’s Amazon documentary.
The ‘All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur’ documentary was released in 2020 and the out-of-form Dele received criticism from it after one clip showed Jose Mourinho saying: “I understood already that you are a f****** lazy guy in training”.
Three years later, Dele addressed the stigma around him following the documentary and claimed that Jose went onto apologise to him and denied that he was lazy – though Amazon chose not to include that.
Rose, who spent two years playing alongside Dele at Tottenham, was shocked by the ‘lazy’ label on his former teammate.
“That is not something you put next to Dele’s name,” Rose told talkSPORT.
MORE EVERTON STORIES
“Pre-season, you do not want to be anywhere near Dele in the running. He’s the fittest. Under Poch, he’s like the number one. Every game, three games a week, Dele would run the most and he was hardly ever injured.
“Laziness is not the Dele that i know.”
Everton wouldn’t give Dele another chance if he was ‘lazy’
While both Dele and Danny Rose have denied that the former is lazy and is actually a hard-working player, his dramatic decline in form is one aspect that is undeniable.
The midfielder’s move to Goodison Park last year has so far been disastrous, however Dele has received praise and support following his interview with Gary Neville earlier this month. The 27-year-old is now looking to start afresh and is eager to be handed another chance with the Toffees.
While we don’t see what goes on behind closed doors at Everton, Sean Dyche certainly wouldn’t be prepared to hand Dele this opportunity if he was lazy and wasn’t working to get back to his best – especially given the £10m clause that is looming over his head.