Dele Alli has told talkSPORT it has been a ‘strange and tough’ time at Tottenham following the departure of beloved boss Mauricio Pochettino.
But the midfielder insists the team are ready to knuckle down under new boss Jose Mourinho – starting with Saturday’s clash against West Ham.
Spurs will kick off a new era under the Special One at the London Stadium in Saturday’s 12:30pm Premier League game – with LIVE and EXCLUSIVE commentary on talkSPORT.
We caught up with Alli at the end of a whirlwind week for the north London club, which saw Pochettino sacked on Tuesday night and Mourinho announced as his replacement on Wednesday morning, just 11 hours later.
And the England international paid a heartfelt tribute to his former boss, saying ‘words can’t describe’ how much he and his team-mates care about the Argentine.
“There’s no hiding how I feel about The Poch,” said the 23-year-old in an exclusive GameDay interview with talkSPORT.
“He’s an amazing person who helped me a lot in my career and in [my personal] life as well.
“He’s someone who definitely means a lot to me. Poch built something amazing here and a lot of players owe a lot to him in terms of how much we’ve improved being here and playing at Tottenham.
“Words can’t describe how much we care about him, and how thankful I am and the team are to him as well.
“But this is football and things like this happen. We have to turn it around now and focus on the new challenges ahead.
“With the new manager coming in, we just have to build trust again and make sure we get ready and playing the way we know we can.
“It’s the start of a new chapter.”
Mourinho has wasted little time since his arrival, taking his first training session on Wednesday and drafting in a new-look backroom team in time for Saturday’s London derby.
Asked for his first impressions of his new manager, Alli continued: “We’ve had a few conversations, he seems very nice.
“You can see his desire, which is something our old gaffer had as well. It’s still very early doors but we’re excited for the new challenge and personally I’m very excited for the new challenge as well.”
While a large section of fans have been left fuming by the managerial change, Spurs have been tipped to end their long wait for silverware following Mourinho’s arrival.
The Portuguese has won more major trophies in his coaching career than Tottenham have in their entire 137 year history.
And Alli says they are ‘hungry’ to win under their new boss.
“We’ve always been working towards that [winning trophies],” he added.
“When Poch came in he built something that is ready to win trophies. Obviously it’s down to the chairman to make decisions whether or not he thinks that’s not going to happen with the manager, or if he wants a new manager to come in.
Jamie O’Hara talks about Tottenham’s trophy chances under Jose Mourinho
“But, as players, we’re hungry. We’ve always been hungry. We’ve always wanted to win, that’s where our mentality is.
“With a new manager coming in now, our hunger is still the same. We still want to achieve the same things, it’s just with a different manager.
“It’s been a strange and tough time, but we’re professional so we have to switch our focus to the weekend and we’ve still got a job to do.”
Listen to talkSPORT’s exclusive GameDay interview with Dele Alli IN FULL live on Saturday from 11am
