The Spurs playmaker has been in expert form in Europe this season but his reputation has taken a battering at home in the past few days
Last week it seemed that anyone in England who had a problem with diving put all their rage in a bucket and dumped it straight over the head of Dele Alli.
His yellow card for simulation in the penalty area against Liverpool brought hostility and condemnation from all quarters, putting not only the performances but also the ethics of the 21-year-old under scrutiny.
There remains a stubbornly prevalent train of thought in this country that diving is 'un-English'; here, they want to believe that it is a foreign scourge that has infected football within these borders.