Eric Dier

[Finney Is Back]

I'm not having a pop at Rose, far from it I felt he was only second to Bentaleb today performance wise. My point was that whilst Mason and Rose are good players, those 4 look to have greater potential and should hold down those first team spots for the next few years. Rose and Mason could be upgraded on, though there are still other positions we need to improve first.

As for the name of a player. I'm interested to see how Cresswell develops at West Ham. He looks like a very promising player and I could well see a couple of the big boys looking at him in a couple of years.

Spurs looked at Cresswell for a good 12 to 18 months before he went to West Ham, but we didn't think he was quite good enough.

I actually think Rose is a lot better than Cresswell.... Put Cresswell in our team and see how good he looks usually having to deal with two players due to Chadli's lack of effort at helping out his full back. Left back is probably the hardest position in the team to play for Spurs currently.

 

[braineclipse]

Dier looks like he will become a very good player, however he should not be in the team ahead of Fazio and especially in yesterdays game.

I thought all in all he did very well yesterday. His pace did help us out a couple of times where Fazio might have struggled. Close call, but Dier did look more in form than Fazio perhaps.

Agreed that he looks like he will become a very good player.

Spurs looked at Cresswell for a good 12 to 18 months before he went to West Ham, but we didn't think he was quite good enough.

I actually think Rose is a lot better than Cresswell.... Put Cresswell in our team and see how good he looks usually having to deal with two players due to Chadli's lack of effort at helping out his full back. Left back is probably the hardest position in the team to play for Spurs currently.

He would look a lot better going forward because of his excellent left foot. But defensively I'm not sure, like you. Reminds me a bit of a young Leighton Baines, and yes that is pretty high praise.

 

[Huddy]

He had a very solid game for someone so young on Sunday. I like Dier, he's got some very good traits as a defender along with good pace, he just needs to naturally gain more experience and I think he'll become a good leader in a few years. Possible future captain?

 

[SteveAWOL]

Had a bit of a shocker today, got ripped by Hoddle and Souness as being partly culpable for all 3 goals conceded. Only to be expected from such a young defender but, like many in the game thread, I expected Fazio to play today to help deal with Fellaini' aerial threat and organise our leaky back line.

 

[parklane1]

Had a bit of a shocker today, got ripped by Hoddle and Souness as being partly culpable for all 3 goals conceded. Only to be expected from such a young defender but, like many in the game thread, I expected Fazio to play today to help deal with Fellaini' aerial threat and organise our leaky back line.

He did, I shook my head when I heard the team line up for the game yesterday as Dier should have been replaced by Fazio. Dier is a young player and I am sure he will become a very good one but he needs to step down as he is starting to make rookie mistakes( not a surprise for a young player). Fellini was given acres of space by Dier for the first goal and Dier gave him a free header for the second and I am sure that would have not happened if Fazio was marking him.

 

[billyiddo]

He had been playing well in the games prior to United - the proposed switch with Fazio would have been for tactical reasons rather than dropping Dier for poor form.

Im starting to buy in to the Verts not being a leader talk that has been about recently, he's a good player individually, as is Dier, but in games like yesterday it becomes apparent there are certain qualities lacking in that partnership which don't get as exposed against lesser sides.

If Fazio isn't regarded as first choice going in to next season then i think we need to sign a CB with those leadership qualities to partner Vertonghen - with Deir behind JV and Fazio behind the new guy.

 

[parklane1]

He had been playing well in the games prior to United - the proposed switch with Fazio would have been for tactical reasons rather than dropping Dier for poor form.

Im starting to buy in to the Verts not being a leader talk that has been about recently, he's a good player individually, as is Dier, but in games like yesterday it becomes apparent there are certain qualities lack in that partnership which don't get as exposed against lesser sides.

I am not having a go at Dier and I am sure he will go on and become a very good player, however he is a young player who is starting to make mistakes ( he did the same when asked to play RB). We have looked a lot better when Jan and Fazio are playing together and IF we want to make the top four we should go ahead and play our best pairing.

Also its hard to put the blame on our back four for all our problems this season as they do not get a lot protection from the players in front of them.

 

[billyiddo]

Im not sure that it's fair to hold his performances at RB against him when evaluating his performances at CB, which by and large have been good, off the top of my head id say he's been as good as Vertonghen over the same run of games. But yes i agree that Fazio and Verts has been our best pairing this season and i have said as much in recent threads.

 

[SteveAWOL]

He did, I shook my head when I heard the team line up for the game yesterday as Dier should have been replaced by Fazio. Dier is a young player and I am sure he will become a very good one but he needs to step down as he is starting to make rookie mistakes( not a surprise for a young player). Fellini was given acres of space by Dier for the first goal and Dier gave him a free header for the second and I am sure that would have not happened if Fazio was marking him.

Agreed. I dunno if Fazio is carrying an injury which is why he didn't feature in the squad yesterday but if he was match fit then it seems very odd that he didn't even make the bench yesterday.

Dier clearly has plenty of potential but Walker seems more prone to errors when has Eric played lately and I think that Fazio' experience and leadership qualities would've been helpful to the team during yesterday' first half shambles and in comabting Costa' gamesmanship in the cup final.

 

[parklane1]

Im not sure that it's fair to hold his performances at RB against him when evaluating his performances at CB, which by and large have been good, off the top of my head id say he's been as good as Vertonghen over the same run of games. But yes i agree that Fazio and Verts has been our best pairing this season and i have said as much in recent threads.

I am not holding anything against him at all, he is a young player in his first proper season in the Prem and will make mistakes as he learns. As I have said he will become a very good player but like all young players they can make mistakes and be overplayed, a good manager will see this and take him out when needed and I hope that is what happens.

 

[billyiddo]

I am not holding anything against him at all, he is a young player in his first proper season in the Prem and will make mistakes as he learns. As I have said he will become a very good player but like all young players they can make mistakes and be overplayed, a good manager will see this and take him out when needed and I hope that is what happens.

Sorry what i meant was - you said mistakes are creeping in to his game and then referenced when he played RB, seeings as this is a discussion about him at CB i just felt that particular part of your post was irrelevant. I don't recall many(any) mistakes at CB recently from him - if anything it has been Vertonghen making a few

 

[glorygloryeze]

Sorry what i meant was - you said mistakes are creeping in to his game and then referenced when he played RB, seeings as this is a discussion about him at CB i just felt that particular part of your post was irrelevant. I don't recall many(any) mistakes at CB recently from him - if anything it has been Vertonghen making a few

This! The CBs are often exposed more than they should be by our CMs, but is Dier getting ANY leadership/guidance from Vertonghen? Before yesterday I wanted Verts dropped and Dier to play alongside Fazio, who I felt would give him some guidance (at least more than Verts seems to be doing atm).
However, I think Dier may need to be taken out of the firing line for a game at least as the third goal was beyond shocking and I think he needs a bit of a kick up the backside.

I would bring him back though and play him INSTEAD of Verts alongside Fazio for Burnley..

 

[parklane1]

Sorry what i meant was - you said mistakes are creeping in to his game and then referenced when he played RB, seeings as this is a discussion about him at CB i just felt that particular part of your post was irrelevant. I don't recall many(any) mistakes at CB recently from him - if anything it has been Vertonghen making a few

Maybe I did not explain myself well enough, most young players can start well but eventually they start to make mistakes and because they are inexperienced they can get their head down. I remember quite a few fans saying that Dier ( when he played at RB) was starting to get exposed and should be left out ( Pooch did the right thing by doing so and played Vlad there for a few games).

In yesterdays game he let Fellini run off him for the first goal and gave the same player a free header which led to the second, I am sure that Fazio would have tracked him for the first and he would never have let him have a free header for the second. He is a young inexperienced player and maybe ( like most young players) once the mistakes happen he does/can not forget them ( during the game) and move on.

Having spent many years coaching young players the vast majority of them are affected far more by making mistakes then older more experienced players, once that starts to happen they need resting and taking out of the firing line. Another thing I have found/believe is that the most important pairing on a football pitch is the CB pairing and I just believe that Jan and Dier ( at this time) are not as good as the Jan/Fazio pairing. But of course that is just my opinion.

 

[Coys300]

Meh, it's not Vertonghen's fault that Dier gets outpaced by Fellaini, loses his header against Fellaini or somehow forgets to tackle Rooney. To often dumb, individual mistakes are spacegoated upon somebody else.

I like Dier, but yesterday was veey poor, needs to be benched for a while imo.

 

[SteveAWOL]

This! The CBs are often exposed more than they should be by our CMs, but is Dier getting ANY leadership/guidance from Vertonghen? Before yesterday I wanted Verts dropped and Dier to play alongside Fazio, who I felt would give him some guidance (at least more than Verts seems to be doing atm).
However, I think Dier may need to be taken out of the firing line for a game at least as the third goal was beyond shocking and I think he needs a bit of a kick up the backside.

I would bring him back though and play him INSTEAD of Verts alongside Fazio for Burnley..

Agreed. Fazio is the only natural leader we have amongst our CBs and with Dier being the most prodigious youngster that pairing seems to be a natural one.

 

[LCLC]

I also think Fazio's lack of mobility and pace would have equally as problematic on a large Old Trafford pitch... esp with the fact he loves an error more than any defender we currently have. We could do with his experience and I think in our next game he should 100% start

 

[Jurgen the German]

It shows how bad we've been defensively that we can't agree on who should be playing in the back four.

For everyone that says Fazio should be playing, he had a shocker against Fiorentina in Florence. All of them have made howlers recently and over the course of the season.

I would go with Fazio against the bigger, more physical sides and Dier against the sides with quick forwards as he's the fastest CB we have.

 

[the dza]

I'd let Dier keep playing, the experience will do him good for next season. We're not a Champions League side right now and we're not gonna get relegated either, so I see no harm in just allowing him to play the remaining games.

 

[AVB]

I thought Fellaini fouled dier for the second goal, sourness saying why didn't he jump, I don't think he could Fellaini was all over him. Weak challenge on Rooney for the third though

 

[indospurs]

Poor kid, but he HAS to show more desire and hunger. Bentaleb too for that third, come to think of it