Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino does not think Dele Alli’s rude gesture on England duty should be treated as a big issue, and says more terrible gestures were not seen as serious when he was a player.
The Football Association is waiting to find out if FIFA will take action against Alli after the Spurs midfielder raised his middle finger in Monday’s 2-1 win over Slovakia at Wembley.
“When I was a player, worse things happened on the pitch,” Pochettino said. “But they never appeared on the TV. I remember one day, I was playing for Newell’s Old Boys, a striker spat at me and it all went in my mouth. Not one camera saw that!
“Afterwards, I killed him! My reaction was to [pull a punch],” he added, gesturing. “And I touched him. But at that moment, the ref said, ‘Oooooh’ and me, [he pulls his punch]. So the punch was not with power. The referee said to me: ‘Little kids will say what are you doing?
“I said, ‘Sorry, sorry.’ The referee said, ‘You and you, yellow cards.’
“But that is the era today in football — a lot of cameras. In my period, it was one in the middle and two more behinds the goals. Now, it’s more about control of the gestures and the behaviour that happens on the pitch. It’s good, it’s evolution.
“But at the same time, that gesture is not important. It was a joke. It’s true that it’s not the best example but it’s not a big issue. He doesn’t deserve to be banned by FIFA.”
“Maybe the headlines are because it’s Dele and something happens. And he’s English,” Pochettino said. “For me, it’s about moving on and not creating importance about this. He was joking.
“Look at Mr. Bean! No? Is that a bad example? All the people laugh about that. And Dele was joking with Kyle Walker! Come on. We need to censor Mr Bean!
“I understand that people on TV and in the media need to express themselves and they need to say their opinions. But from my point of view, there is nothing wrong. I am so happy with him. He needs to improve and learn, like me, like everyone. His behaviour is improving a lot.”
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