Thursday 28 April 2016 17:22, UK
Dele Alli has had an impressive breakthrough season, but the Tottenham midfielder is now facing a retrospective FA ban after appearing to strike Claudio Yacob in an off-the-ball incident.
Spurs drew 1-1 with West Brom on Monday Night Football to severely dent their title hopes, and the FA could dish out a second blow to the north London club if they deem Alli to have used violent conduct.
Although referee Mike Jones missed the incident, television replays showed Alli appearing to throw a punch at Yacob's stomach as the pair clashed in the first half.
The Monday Night Football panel later discussed the incident, with Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness giving their own thoughts on the controversial moment.
Carragher said: "You like the fact that he's got something about him. If you remember what Ledley King said about him having a "healthy disrespect" for senior professionals.
"That's exactly what Yacob is, he's a lot older and a lot more experienced. From the start he had wound him up... his job was to stop Alli. Fair play to Yacob because he carries on but he's very fortunate the referee hasn't seen that clearly.
"These are the types of situations Wayne Rooney was involved in, he was a similar type of character. He wanted to be involved in things, he is very competitive. It's going to be a massive learning curve for him."
Meanwhile, Souness believes that Alli's ability will make him a target for future incidents.
"It's just a flick, it's petulance," he said. "He's not going to hurt anyone doing it. He has got that in him and for him to become a top, top player he needs to retain that.
"He's at the very bottom of what hopefully is a big, big learning curve for him. He will get sent off, I said that before the game - he's got that in him which makes him the player he's going to be.
"People will look at him and will want to rough him up. As a young man full of testosterone, he wants to go chest-to-chest with people. He's got to rise above that, he has so much ability and so much athleticism - let the referee deal with anyone that wants to rough him up."
Click the video above to watch the incident for yourself and decide whether the incident is worthy of a retrospective ban for Tottenham's brightest young talent.
