Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jermaine Jenas has hit out at Eric Dier for his mediocre performances in recent weeks.
Tottenham crashed to a 1-0 defeat against AC Milan in the Champions League last night and Jenas was unhappy with the way Dier defended against the Milan goal scorer Brahim Diaz.
Dier was heavily criticised for his performance against Leicester City as well.
The 29-year-old has not been at his best this season and it will be interesting to see if Tottenham decide to bring in a quality alternative at the end of the season.
It Is no surprise that Tottenham are in need of defensive reinforcements and they will have to sign a quality partner for Cristian Romero. The Londoners have been linked with a number of players in recent weeks and it will be interesting to see if Antonio Conte can address the major weakness in his side.
Speaking to BT Sport, Jenas revealed that Dier could have done more to prevent the AC Milan goal and he should have closed down the AC Milan forward.
“Look, with Eric Dier, I thought he could have done more as well,” Jenas said.
“It’s a tough scenario he’s got himself into, don’t get me wrong, because you don’t want to give away a penalty.
“I just feel like it’s danger time, it’s not a moment to wonder, ‘do I get tight’, it’s about stopping something happening.
“He could have been just a bit closer to stop the shot on target, again it was just a little bit too much distance between him and what was actually happening.
“It was a really poor goal to concede. Even a nudge or something just to put them off balance before they hit the shot, he doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t engage.”
It remains to be seen whether Tottenham can mount a comeback in the second leg and book their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions league now.
Tottenham have been quite inconsistent in the Premier League so far, and they will not want to crash out of the Champions League just yet. The Londoners certainly have the quality to overturn the deficit at home and book their place in the next round.
