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Eric Dier

metalgear said:
More than that - a defence that inspires confidence so that midfield and attack can take more risks, a defence higher up the pitch to support and compress play in the opponents half. Verts and Toby had great interception skills high up the pitch along with a DM - we didn't need two DMs and we certainly had more bodies willing to go foreward in a carefree manner.
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We did play 2 Dms though
We regularly played a combination of Dier, wanyama and Moussa… and moussa was 100% playing deep and defensive
 
Bedfordspurs said:
We did play 2 Dms though
We regularly played a combination of Dier, wanyama and Moussa… and moussa was 100% playing deep and defensive
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And how those DMs did so much more in supporting and starting attacks, how well the press worked as a unit and so many options for record braking ball retention stats because the players were much closer to each other and higher up the pitch.

Paratici and Conte are both Italians who grew up with football based on a strong defence and the chain link of players to help defending. I'm sure they will sort it out soon


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metalgear said:
And how those DMs did so much more in supporting and starting attacks, how well the press worked as a unit and so many options for record braking ball retention stats because the players were much closer to each other and higher up the pitch.

Paratici and Conte are both Italians who grew up with football based on a strong defence and the chain link of players to help defending. I'm sure they will sort it out soon


Sent from my SM-T865 using Fapatalk
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They didn’t really support attacks though
They did their job but we had a player in front of them (or several) who did (rose and Walker wide, Eriksen at 10)
 
metalgear said:
More than that - a defence that inspires confidence so that midfield and attack can take more risks, a defence higher up the pitch to support and compress play in the opponents half. Verts and Toby had great interception skills high up the pitch along with a DM - we didn't need two DMs and we certainly had more bodies willing to go foreward in a carefree manner.
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But that is tactical on the part of the coach.
What you’re talking about is having players who are good enough to play attacking football through the middle (of course, Conte’s systems are heavily about wing-backs).
I think we’d all agree that CM is (along with getting a proper left-sided CB) the main priority short-term (new striker too). It was noticeable how Winks changed second-half when we pressed higher up the pitch. He has a pass on him and can be very progressive, it has just been a long time since any of us saw anything remotely like that from him. I do not think he is the long-term solution, but in terms of breaking up a Skipp/PEH axis, he will be important.

We must be looking at left-sided CBs though, as that is going to be a major necessary upgrade. Davies has done well all things considered, but he is not the answer IMO.
 
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thfcsteff said:
But that is tactical on the part of the coach.
What you’re talking about is having players who are good enough to play attacking football through the middle (of course, Conte’s systems are heavily about wing-backs).
I think we’d all agree that CM is (along with getting a proper left-sided CB) the main priority short-term (new striker too). It was noticeable how Winks changed second-half when we pressed higher up the pitch. He has a pass on him and can be very progressive, it has just been a long time since any of us saw anything remotely like that from him. I do not think he is the long-term solution, but in terms of breaking up a Skipp/PEH axis, he will be important.

We must be looking at left-sided CBs though, as that is going to be a major necessary upgrade. Davies has done well all things considered, but he is not the answer IMO.
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Yes its tactical and it has played out to hide Dier' weaknesses. Conte's system is wingbacks but to do so you need a system that more players supporting each other in midfield. For CBs this means being able to stop counter attacks be it 1v1 or 2v2. This assurance will give the other players to take risks and play through the centre - to draw out the opposition... and attacking the space behind where the wingbacks are most effective. Like someone pointed out earlier, Conte will gradually move the players upfield with a higher defence line as the players understand his system. Romoero has proven himself, I am intrigued though about Sachez - Conte could make something out of him. Tanganga and Rodon are also good prospects too for Conte. Of course Dier is able to improve and learn about positional awareness and reading the game and maybe Conte can turn him into an English Maldini, but just saying that if we want to challenge the top four or win things, we need much better CBs than now.
 
metalgear said:
Yes its tactical and it has played out to hide Dier' weaknesses. Conte's system is wingbacks but to do so you need a system that more players supporting each other in midfield. For CBs this means being able to stop counter attacks be it 1v1 or 2v2. This assurance will give the other players to take risks and play through the centre - to draw out the opposition... and attacking the space behind where the wingbacks are most effective. Like someone pointed out earlier, Conte will gradually move the players upfield with a higher defence line as the players understand his system. Romoero has proven himself, I am intrigued though about Sachez - Conte could make something out of him. Tanganga and Rodon are also good prospects too for Conte. Of course Dier is able to improve and learn about positional awareness and reading the game and maybe Conte can turn him into an English Maldini, but just saying that if we want to challenge the top four or win things, we need much better CBs than now.
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:D

I'm sorry, are you suggesting that Conte's wrong-back system right now (3-4-3) is playing out and 'hiding Dier's weakness'? You'll have to explain that to me.
Against Leeds we effectively saw two different styles of play. The first-half saw us sit and soak with the intention of attacking on the break, except Leeds pressed us high and hard. Players like Winks -who have hardly played and have little rhythm- were harassed and put out of their stride. Ndombele was not considered up to the task yet, and PEH is not a consistent passer of any note. Second-half, we did the high hard pressing, squeezing the pitch and sitting higher. I am not arguing for the sake of it, I simply don't understand how any of this hides a 'weakness' of Dier's.

Romero is a wonderful, raw, aggressive talent, but he has not yet proven himself as ready to be the leader of a three. He has been field-coached during games, literally talked into when to hold and when to press on. By Dier. Japhet looks like he has lost a bit of confidence on the ball, and I agree, Rodon looks to have great praise yet s successive managers don't seem to rate him as worth a chance.

No-one is under any illusions that we need greater quality all over the pitch in 'detail areas', but I think the areas are specific and left CB is the key position in defense right now where we need some pretty quick and fast help.
 
ricky2tricky4city said:
You'll find it hard to move the needle on this for any player once in their twenties.
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When he's playing in a well-coached system where everyone is working to task and plan, I think his awareness and read of the game is really good. I think some (not you) find it hard to fathom that you can (for example) have a great read of the game yet be hamstrung from using it because you might not be playing in the same shape or with the same defensive/holding mid players regularly. Thus you might see situations where pushing 5 yards up to cut a ball out is on, but you perhaps don't trust the system around you to cover.
 
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thfcsteff said:
When he's playing in a well-coached system where everyone is working to task and plan, I think his awareness and read of the game is really good. I think some (not you) find it hard to fathom that you can (for example) have a great read of the game yet be hamstrung from using it because you might not be playing in the same shape or with the same defensive/holding mid players regularly. Thus you might see situations where pushing 5 yards up to cut a ball out is on, nut you perhaps don't trust the system around you to cover.
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It was a general point, not a comment on Eric.
 
Daisuk said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1462818521767985157
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I think credit should also be given to the rest of the team too and how it was coached. The number of times Eric had a wide open player to pick out clearly helped too. Not taking anything away from his game, as it probably required him to be patient on the ball to give players the chance to get wide open, and he did make some great threaded passes too.
 
He played well at the weekend and that montage is very good. Its interesting that Leeds let him have so much time on the ball - almost like they were saying that Dier is rubbish with the ball so let him have it as he'll screw it up.

As someoe said above, the left centre back position is more urgent to fill with Davies then becoming back-up. really wish we had a aerially dominant CB too - Rodon is the best we have but none of our dozens of managers since he arrived seem to rate him. Not sure what he is or isnt doing in training
 
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