Dele Alli reveals Jose Mourinho apologised over ‘lazy’ insult

Dele Alli and Jose Mourinho endured a fractious relationship during their time together at Tottenham (Picture: Getty)

Dele Alli has accused Amazon of not giving the full picture over his relationship with former Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho.

The England international’s career appeared likely to receive a shot in the arm upon Mourinho’s appointment as Mauricio Pochettino’s successor.

Alli starred in Mourinho’s opening match, a 3-2 win at West Ham, but quickly fell down the Special One’s pecking order and struggled to win the faith of the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss.

Mourinho infamously branded Alli ‘lazy’ in the most memorable scene from Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ documentary that gave a behind the scenes look into the fallout from Pochettino’s sacking and the way in which Mourinho attempted to galvanise the squad he inherited.

Alli, who on Thursday gave an emotional tell-all interview with Gary Neville in which he revealed his addiction to pain killers for which he spent time in rehab, insists his dealing with Mourinho were not as fractious as was made out.

‘I’m glad you asked me about that [Jose Mourinho calling me lazy], so 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.

‘What you see sometimes isn’t the way it really is. I think, especially now with social media and all these things, we can really portray something that isn’t real. After that, I think people definitely tried to use that, for some other decisions.

‘I think other coaches maybe, for other reasons why I weren’t playing, they stuck to that – lazy one – because it was kind of an easy, easy one to use. And the problem was probably more than that, I think.’

MORE : Mauricio Pochettino sends love to Dele Alli after heartbreaking Gary Neville interview

MORE : Dele Alli reveals he was sexually abused aged six and hung off a bridge

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