Dele Alli recently spoke to Gary Neville on ‘The Overlap’ about his off and on-pitch struggles during an emotional interview which included discussions about his mental health struggles, his addiction to sleeping pills and former managers Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino.
Dele revealed that Jose Mourinho apologised for a comment, which appeared on the Tottenham edition of the Amazon Prime documentary ‘All or Nothing’, in which he called the midfielder “lazy” but said the apology was not shown in the final cut.
In a special episode of Gary Neville’s ‘The Overlap’, an emotional Dele spoke about his mental health struggles, which led him to recently receiving treatment in a rehab facility in America. The 27-year-old also opened up about his battle with addiction in recent years with sleeping pills.
The Everton midfielder also touched on the documentary, which went on behind the scenes at Spurs during his time at the club with Mourinho in charge.
Mourinho’s remark towards the midfielder during a team meeting was seen by millions of viewers, but the subsequent apology did not make the final cut of the show.
“I’m glad you asked me about that,” Dele said. “That lazy comment people all love to bring that up, that interview obviously that was on Amazon. He called me lazy – that was the day after recovery day.
“A week later he apologised to me for calling me lazy because he’d seen me actually train and play. But that wasn’t in the documentary, and no one spoke up about that because it was only me and him.
“In the team meeting he called me lazy but then one-on-one, I think it was on the pitch he apologised for it. And I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I know myself – I’m not lazy.”
Dele also spoke about the thought of almost retiring at just 24 and the importance the support from his adopted family and then Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino had on his well-being.
“Mauricio Pochettino was the best manager and I couldn’t have asked for a better manager at the time.
“It was him and his team, you know, not just him. There was Jesus [Perez], Miguel [d’Agostino] and Tony [Jimenez]. They are amazing people and they’re so understanding, and it wasn’t like a footballer and a manager relationship. It was deeper than that, I felt.”
