Mauricio Pochettino believes that naughtiness is a part of what makes Dele Alli so nice in front of goal. The Tottenham Hotspur manager has watched Alli put himself at the centre of a few flashpoints over the past week and it is perhaps no coincidence that the midfielder has come to look more threatening at the same time.

Alli riled CSKA Moscow in Wednesday’s 3-1 Champions League win at Wembley when, in the act of giving the ball back after a stoppage, he floated a shot just over the crossbar. The CSKA goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, was worried enough to back-pedal and the midfielder, Zoran Tosic, squared up to Alli, before players from both sides converged.

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Pochettino said that Alli had assured him he was not trying to score but it was still cheeky and provocative. Alli would stand his ground in the confrontation with Tosic and, moments later, he left the toe of his boot in on him in a challenge. He went on to score Tottenham’s equaliser and it was his header that Akinfeev helped into his own net for the third.

On the previous Saturday Alli had incensed Swansea City with a dive to win a penalty, which opened the floodgates for Tottenham to win 5-0 at White Hart Lane. The 20-year-old was involved in three of the subsequent goals. Alli was subdued, at times during Tottenham’s stodgy spell that preceded the Swansea game, when they won one in 10 in all competitions, but he has found his form going into Sunday’s visit to Manchester United.

“Dele Alli is Dele Alli because he’s a little bit naughty,” Pochettino said. “Does he need that naughtiness? Yes, in context. Don’t cross the line, but this is a little bit his identity. It’s his character – in a good way.

“He’s a brilliant boy and he has a brilliant brain; he’s very smart. He is very sensitive, very intuitive and because he comes from a difficult [family] background, you can understand when you’re with him. He’s a very nice person – off the pitch. He was struggling a little bit with some [fitness] problems, which were small but they can affect your game. Now, he is recovering his form.”

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Pochettino described the away loss to Monaco on 22 November, which ended the club’s Champions League hopes, as the “toughest moment” of the season but he suggested that his players had been able to shake their heads clear. Although they lost at Chelsea four days later, the performance was encouraging and the wins over Swansea and CSKA have been emphatic.

“After Monaco, we have built our confidence and belief again,” Pochettino said. “We deserved more against Chelsea but you could start to feel the answer of the team. And then against Swansea and CSKA, we played in a similar way to before – up to when we beat Manchester City [on 2 October].

“We are improving as a collective, because Harry Kane is much better and now Toby Alderweireld is back, so is Ben Davies and, when we are together, we feel that we can beat everyone.”