Eric Dier

[AdamB]

I like the way we were more flexible in our set ups in the last few games, you need a basic system to fall back on but the ability to change it makes us a better team, we definitely need 1 of the cb's to push in to midfield when teams just leave 1 up against us.

Yes, I agree. The problem we've had in numerous games such as the recent game against Arsenal and the away game vs Chelsea is when we've been outnumbered in midfield, part of the reason for which is that they've had one up front against our 3 CBs. That inevitably leads to an overload against us, most commonly in CM

So Dier pushing out in front of the other two CMs is a clear evolution and presumably to counter this. The obvious risk is that it leaves a gaping hole between Romero and Davies/Lenglet, but probably they're alive to that and narrow that gap it should work

 

[braineclipse]

I don't think I've seen us do this much at all this season, I wonder if part of the big team meeting that happened prior to Fulham the team also fed back to Conte about what they felt needed changing, the 2 man midfield was/is a big issue against good opposition CM, wonder if this is Conte adapting.

Seen more of it recently I think.

Have been some reports that Conte had players working on our pressing during the World Cup "break".

Having Romero and Bentancur back and getting there with regards to match fitness helps in this regard. As does having Davies back in the team instead of Lenglet.

I also think a bit of confidence gained from a couple of clean sheets helps. Easy to become a bit more back foot, a bit more passive when low on confidence.

When we do press we simply cannot just leave a big gap in central midfield, the centre backs have to push up. I think it's more about executing the plan better rather than Conte changing the approach.

IIRC, Romero and Davies being aggressive in this way was a fairly common thing towards the end of last season. Dier seems to me to be doing it more now than previously, but just my impression.

 

[braineclipse]

Yes, I agree. The problem we've had in numerous games such as the recent game against Arsenal and the away game vs Chelsea is when we've been outnumbered in midfield, part of the reason for which is that they've had one up front against our 3 CBs. That inevitably leads to an overload against us, most commonly in CM

So Dier pushing out in front of the other two CMs is a clear evolution and presumably to counter this. The obvious risk is that it leaves a gaping hole between Romero and Davies/Lenglet, but probably they're alive to that and narrow that gap it should work

Did it happen when we dropped deeper as well? My impression was that it was mostly when we pushed up a bit or pressed high.

I think it's more about taking turns/identifying the right situation to push up rather than Dier pushing up. Romero and Davies did it too. Needs good decision making. But it's really frustrating to see us press higher, but then a looping pass is played to a forward in loads of space, that can't be allowed to happen.

 

[superspurs]

Seen more of it recently I think.

Have been some reports that Conte had players working on our pressing during the World Cup "break".

Having Romero and Bentancur back and getting there with regards to match fitness helps in this regard. As does having Davies back in the team instead of Lenglet.

I also think a bit of confidence gained from a couple of clean sheets helps. Easy to become a bit more back foot, a bit more passive when low on confidence.

When we do press we simply cannot just leave a big gap in central midfield, the centre backs have to push up. I think it's more about executing the plan better rather than Conte changing the approach.

IIRC, Romero and Davies being aggressive in this way was a fairly common thing towards the end of last season. Dier seems to me to be doing it more now than previously, but just my impression.

Yeah based on last night it's my impression too, and I hope it continues, I am not the biggest Hojberg fan but if last night is what you get when he has more freedom to press then crack on.

The LCB pushing up into midfield and even further to join attacks is a big part of Conte's system.

Big part of the constant Bastoni chatter as he did that for him at Inter, Davies is better than Lenglet in that role, in fact Davies is still quite underrated in general for us I reckon.

 

[braineclipse]

Yeah based on last night it's my impression too, and I hope it continues, I am not the biggest Hojberg fan but if last night is what you get when he has more freedom to press then crack on.

The LCB pushing up into midfield and even further to join attacks is a big part of Conte's system.

Big part of the constant Bastoni chatter as he did that for him at Inter, Davies is better than Lenglet in that role, in fact Davies is still quite underrated in general for us I reckon.

Fully agree. With the slight addition that the RCB plays a similar role.

Davies is a quality LCB in this system. Not top level, but really good. I don't understand why he isn't rated higher by our fans.

 

[parklane1]

Dier ( imo) is a far better player then he is rated by a section of our fans.

 

[Gazza]

Dier ( imo) is a far better player then he is rated by a section of our fans.

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Would be wise to seek a solid consistent performer.

 

[parklane1]

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Well it all about opinions and you know what they say about opinions.

 

[papaspur]

Dier ( imo) is a far better player then he is rated by a section of our fans.

He's made a lot of mistakes this season. It's easy to forget about those when he has a good game, and I guess the same could be said of the opposite scenario. It's not like people here want to dislike Dier, we can only judge him for what he does and brings to the team. When we played Cit 2.5 weeks ago, things didn't seem so rosy regarding our defense. The truth is, he had a great game yesterday and I wish I could say that week in, week out.

 

[billyiddo]

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Would be wise to seek a solid consistent performer.

He has these little spells of playing well then eventually falls back in to the same habits and we're left ruing that he's not been replaced as a starter. We have several players like this who need replacing eventually but until they are we can but live in hope that they find some long term consistency

 

[thfcsteff]

Dier played well yesterday. However it looked to me as though it was largely Romero who was picking up Haaland.

I preferred our tactics yesterday pushing the spare CB up into midfield and hope that the continues.

As has been pointed out, City not putting balls in behind made it easy to do.

 

[DubSpur]

MOTD2 did a piece on Dier stepping forward into midfield.

In fact, wasn't that one of the features of our system in the early Poch years? Dier would play as a CB when we were defending but step into DM whenever possible.

You have it the wrong way around. He played as a CM but would he would drop into make a back 3 when we had the ball with Walker and Rose pushing up and Toby and Verts pushing more towards the FB positions.

 

[thfcsteff]

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Would be wise to seek a solid consistent performer.

It only takes one mistake from him to bring the boo-phalanx out.

The Premier League’s official stats show he is our highest placed defender for clearances, headed clearances, and blocks. He is in the top 20 of Premiership players in all categories. He has made errors, which have been debated to death here already. How many have led directly to goals. How do we measure a ‘mistake’? How many times can we allow Cristian the luxury of our chuckles and ‘wellllll it’s how he is’ for the repetitiously wreckless first 30 minute yellow cards, which arguably compromise performances for the rest of a game and eventually was always going to cost you a red? FWIW, I think Romero is excellent, albeit I want him to be a little more controlled in those moments. As a fan base we lack consistent standards; Royal is another example.

 

[FatBloke]

You have it the wrong way around. He played as a CM but would he would drop into make a back 3 when we had the ball with Walker and Rose pushing up and Toby and Verts pushing more towards the FB positions.

Ah yes, of course. Walker and Rose bombing down the wings feels like a very long time ago.

 

[braineclipse]

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Would be wise to seek a solid consistent performer.

Depends how you see and evaluate his weaknesses I think.

Personally I think his weaknesses can mostly be compensated for when the rest of the team plays well. He's not at the level where he'll be good almost no matter what happens or how those around him play.

I think there are reasons to believe that if we can get better performances out of the team as a whole, defend better as a unit, play better with the ball as a unit Dier can continue to look very good. As he has for stretches in the past and recently.

I think Conte and Paratici have gotten their priorities pretty much spot on. Since Conte came in we've signed a lot of players, prioritising other positions over a new central CB. I think Dier is good enough to warrant that kind of trust in him.

We've been leaking goals for quite a while. Signed a new attacking player and a new RWB in January. I think that's because we believe Dier can be good enough at the very least and that it would take a really good (and usually expensive) player to make a significant difference at CCB. To me, more than a "solid, consistent" player. An actual top level or close to it CB.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Disagree think Dier is far worse of a player than he is rated by a section of our fans.

It only takes two good performances for the fan boys to crop us and vice versa.

Would be wise to seek a solid consistent performer.

I loathe him and will rejoice the day he leaves the club.

 

[Gazza]

It only takes one mistake from him to bring the boo-phalanx out.

The Premier League’s official stats show he is our highest placed defender for clearances, headed clearances, and blocks. He is in the top 20 of Premiership players in all categories. He has made errors, which have been debated to death here already. How many have led directly to goals. How do we measure a ‘mistake’? How many times can we allow Cristian the luxury of our chuckles and ‘wellllll it’s how he is’ for the repetitiously wreckless first 30 minute yellow cards, which arguably compromise performances for the rest of a game and eventually was always going to cost you a red? FWIW, I think Romero is excellent, albeit I want him to be a little more controlled in those moments. As a fan base we lack consistent standards; Royal is another example.

He makes far too many errors to have him at the fulcrum of our defence. He is too flat footed and often gets called back watching. Being in the top 20 in stats for clearances, blocks etc doesn't paint the whole picture at all. He gets caught out far too many times for my liking.

He would not get in to any of our rivals first team. He often looks good when the team are protecting him.

I actualy don't have any issues with Royal, think he is tidy and has the physical attributes to hold the defence together, and can improve the attacking aspect of his game of which he looks like he is improving.

Dier is inconsistent and not reliable to warrant him starting.

 

[Raziel]

Dier really has polarizing views, my perspective

- He's a player that hasn't quite lived up to potential, didn't make that final step up, his time at DM vs. CB is probably part of it.

For us, I think he's a decent squad option (much as I see Davies), we probably need a CB that is a lot more dominant in the air (weakness we have had for some time), who is press resistant (another old issue), and who can be the leader of the back line. To be fair to Dier, that player will be fudging expensive

 

[glorygloryeze]

I'd prefer Dier to be a rotation option, rather than a guaranteed starter as he has to be by default now.
That he is speaks very badly to our other CBs and recent recruitment failings (p.s. - were we in for ANY CBs the last transfer window??)

 

[Lilbaz]

I'd prefer Dier to be a rotation option, rather than a guaranteed starter as he has to be by default now.
That he is speaks very badly to our other CBs and recent recruitment failings (p.s. - were we in for ANY CBs the last transfer window??)

In jan? According to ally gold the plan for jan was an attacker and rwb. Cb's for the summer.

Wouldn't be surprised if we signed a precontract with one though.