LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino has called for patience with Dele Alli, suggesting that the Tottenham and England starlet is experiencing turbulence on and off the pitch.
Alli has scored twice in five league games this season but he has gone off the boil since the end of the August, and he cut a frustrated figure in Spurs' 0-0 draw with Swansea on Saturday, just as in the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Wembley.
The Swansea game followed a difficult week for Alli, who was suspended for Tottenham's landmark win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and could face an international ban from FIFA following his middle-finger gesture in England's win over Slovakia.