Even the great geniuses are flawed. Paul Gascoigne is always the player that the English media mention when a bright young thing has got himself into a bit of hot water, isn’t he? Dele Alli is not ‘Gazza’ and, quite frankly, comparisons like that are incredibly detrimental. However, there is something about Alli that is greatly appealing.

The Spurs youngster has burst onto the scene this season, snatched the PFA Young Player of the Year award and split many a Twitter opinion in the process. British sportspeople, it seems, are often devoid of personality. In the days of PR teams for each athlete and scrutiny across social media for every action anyone takes, there is a feeling that players with their own individual spark are quashed. Kevin Pietersen is a fine example of this and the England cricket team even threatened to do the same with Ben Stokes. Dele Alli is not similar to other of those two in personality but he certainly is not the perfect monotonous, bland interview-machine that many others are. Alli plays football with a sparkle and, on the odd occasion, a temper. Of course we do not want to condone his violence in Spurs’ last fixture, but we certainly should not sit him on the naughty step and lecture him about his behaviour.

Although a young player, Alli is a grown man and he is as aware as anyone else that he did something wrong. There is a tendency in British sport to tell people to behave and, simultaneously, dampen their individualistic spark on the field. Alli’s temper needs to be monitored simply to avoid suspension, that is without argument. However, it is the next step that is often taken with such players that seems to rapidly remove any personality from their play. Even Wayne Rooney, for example, has grown into a quiet man and his on-field spark seems to have dwindled with it.

This is not a point about temper. Temper, unless channelled into your play, is not a positive on the field. It is an argument for embracing the failings of young players along with the brilliance. Alli is a class act on the field and a rare interesting character off it. Roy Hodgson and Mauricio Pochettino should be contained in their comments on Alli’s future, but let’s not get it wrong, he really could be one of the best players in world football. The volley against Crystal Palace sticks in the memory, but the all-round intelligence of the ex-MK Dons man’s play has been astonishing.

As much as we should all try to remain grounded about the latest English hope, 19 goals and assists in your debut Premier League season (largely played as a teenager) is something to drool over. It has not just been the responsibility that Alli has been gifted by Pochettino, either. The Spurs manager gives his players a freedom to ‘express themselves’ and Alli, along with Harry Kane, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen, has thrived.

This is where personality comes into it.

Alli has been trying, and succeeding, to do things in the heat of a Premier League title race that many 19 or 20 year olds would not have even realised was possible. The England international has stepped up to score crucial goals on the rare occasion that Kane has not been firing and his 10 strikes have compensated for Spurs’ lack of a natural back-up striker.

Let him make mistakes, allow him to learn from them himself and, most importantly, embrace the brilliance that is Bamidele Alli. The selected outrage at his latest temper flare makes him an opinion splitter, and it just makes him all the more appealing. Flawless people are not entertaining, Alli is box-office, he is quality and the personality that makes him such an entertainer must not be crushed.

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