5 players who are loved by their own fans but hated by rivals

#5 Dele Alli

To many opposing fans, Dele Alli embodies the arrogance of youth

The reason that rival fans dislike Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli – who is widely beloved by the Spurs faithful – comes down to a simple thing; the England international, who emerged into the spotlight in late 2015 at the age of just 19, is seen as the embodiment of the arrogance of youth. And while the truth of that idea is debatable, it’s definitely meant that Alli has become a villain in the eyes of many over the last few seasons.

Alli’s skills on the pitch – a mix of his tremendous work-rate and athletic ability but also complimented by a natural instinct for spotting opportunities that other players simply don’t – have gained him rave reviews and plenty of goals and assists, but like Neymar, he’s also become renowned for going down under what appear to be soft challenges a little too easily.

He’s also not afraid to clash with opposing players; 2018 famously saw him tell Manchester United’s Ashley Young to “retire with a zimmer frame” after a brief fracas, while 2016 saw him banned by the FA for 3 matches for punching West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob in the stomach following an off-the-ball incident.

Off the pitch, Alli has also courted controversy – being photographed whilst intoxicated in the summer of 2019, and most recently finding himself in hot water with the authorities following an ill-advised Snapchat joke about the coronavirus epidemic.

Essentially, Alli’s on-pitch abilities should earn him the respect of opposing fans like that offered to his teammate Harry Kane – but without his combative style, who knows whether he’d be as effective? To that end, the likelihood is that he’ll remain loved by Spurs fans – and disliked by everyone else –for some time yet.