Mauricio Pochettino warns Dele Alli after latest dive

Mauricio Pochettino has a warning for Dele Alli after the Tottenham Hotspur star was booked for simulation in the 4-0 win at Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

In the second half Alli closed in on goal with Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl coming off his line. The England international then went down and looked to have initiated the contact.

Referee Neil Swarbrick promptly showed Alli a yellow card for the dive and Mauricio Pochettino went into full “disappointed father mode” as he stood on the sidelines shaking his head.

After the game Pochettino had a warning for Alli.

“I didn’t see it, it was difficult from my position. But if it was like this, he needs to learn. He must learn. Because this type of action doesn’t help him, doesn’t help the team and doesn’t help football,” Pochettino said. “We have talked in the last few years about fair play and being honest. I think he’s improving a lot, but still it’s something he has to learn about.”

Dele Alli is no stranger to taking a tumble and it is easy to forgot that one of the rising stars of the Premier League, and Europe, is still only 21 years old.

Still, he should listen to this message from his manager loud and clear.

Alli will sit out England’s first game of their international break after being banned one-game by FIFA for a middle-finger gesture in their recent World Cup qualifying win over Slovakia in September.

With his past of red cards for bad challenges and off-the-ball incidents, he still has a lot of work to do to curb his nasty streak.

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