Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has revealed that he was forced to change his playing style in the middle of the season in order to avoid becoming too predictable.
The 21-year-old scored just four times in his opening 21 matches of the campaign, but finished the season with 22 goals across all competitions having rediscovered his scoring touch after Christmas.
Alli acknowledged that defenders had become wise to his style during the opening stages of the campaign, but hopes to keep on developing and up his goalscoring rate once again next season.
"I've had to think a lot more about my movement. Maybe in my first season, players weren't used to me running into the box from midfield, so they weren't expecting it. This season, they got a little bit more used to it," he told the Evening Standard.
"So I've had to time my runs a little bit better, and I've had to be a bit sharper with the way I move off defenders. I've had to try to judge the flight of the ball a little bit better. At the start of the season I struggled a bit, perhaps because I didn't expect players to be so used to me, so I had to change my game. I started playing a bit higher up the pitch and scoring a few more goals.
"There are still things I need to work on to make sure next season is even better. I want to be more clinical than I was this season. I want to up my numbers again."
Spurs ended the season in second place - their highest league finish since 1963.
Barney Corkhill
