Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho will 'slowly edge' Dele Alli out of team, believes Jermaine Jenas

Dele Alli's drop in form is an indicator that Jose Mourinho is struggling at Tottenham, claims Jermaine Jenas, who believes the midfielder will be "slowly edged" out.

Mourinho insisted Alli was to be his no10 after taking over from Mauricio Pochettino in November, infamously asking if it had been the England international's brother who had been playing of late.

Alli's form took an instant upturn, with his exquisite solo effort against Manchester United epitomising the confidence that was quickly returning after a lengthy drop in performance levels.

The 24-year-old has since struggled for form and fitness, however, dropping to the bench following the restart before suffering another hamstring injury that will keep him out of Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal.

While Tottenham failed to muster a shot on target in a woeful draw against struggling Bournemouth on Thursday, Jenas believes a look at Alli's decline can perhaps provide an indication as to how Mourinho's reign is progressing.

"Dele, he's struggled by the looks of it," the former Spurs man told BBC's Friday Football Special. "That's the key one I look at in terms of the way it's gone.

"If you think of the way he arrived, Jose, the smiles, the 'have I been watching Dele's brother'. All of a sudden Dele's scoring goals and it's all looking good.

"And then, we've not seen Dele. We've not seen that Dele for weeks, months. And I get the feeling that he will slowly edge him out from what I'm seeing.

"That's an indication of things going a little bit sour."

Jenas also believes that Mourinho's management style has always revolved around his relationship with players, questioning whether the current crop of Tottenham stars have the mentality to cope with his confrontational approach.

He added: "I always felt that Jose Mourinho, as good a tactician as he needed to be in all of those finals he's had in his career, that's still in him, but he's always been a people person in terms of the mentality side of the game.

"I had a conversation with Cesc Fabregas recently, who said Jose Mourinho is in the top three managers he's ever had. And that is because he challenged him on a regular basis to be better.

"If he had a bad game, Jose wouldn't talk to him. And he felt, 'I want the love back, I'm going to go and earn it'. Have these Tottenham players got that? I don't know if they've got that."

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