Whilst the usual intellectuals on Twitter were calling for Matt Doherty to be sold after one season, there was one Spurs player whose performance against Leeds ought to have given fans genuine cause for concern, Eric Dier.
Dier’s new and improved role at centre back is achieving hit and miss results, to put it mildly. Against Leeds his passing accuracy was appalling with Sofascore marking him down as low as 50%.
On top of this there were 4 long passes that went to the wrong team and if we look at his overall successful actions – the broad-brush of statistical analysis, it gets worse. For any defender this is bad, but for one on a team that won 3-0, it’s deeply worrying.
Dier made 6 clearances, but given how weak the Leeds attack was, we have to question how many of these balls might have been dealt with more intelligently. In summary, Dier saw less of the ball than Doherty and was less useful with it. No red card, no subconscious bias, so no witch-hunt.
As most of his “passes” were high balls to the front and most were received by opponents, I think that this “statistic” is a little false The tactic of waiting for second balls etc. is an inherent part pf Mourinho’s attempt to turn sow’s ears into silk purses.
Someone put up a still of him being owned by either Culvert Loonybin or Randy Barrell and I cannot get that out of my mind. He turns his back on the ball and flinches like a little girl.
Give me a slow Toby any day.
BULLZ. You play to your strenght not your weakness. Why would you play a system you do not have the personnel to execute. At least we have lots of functional drunks. Dier and Winks anything over 10 yards passing is destine to the other team. We micro analyzing 90 minutes of football then yet we complain about kids on twitter and instagram commenting about the back pass to start the game. Give me a break enjoy game.
Dont get me wrong I like Eric and I think he can be a good passer…he’s just sloppy too many times.
Our backline is very fortunate to have so many forward players digging it out
Currently both Shef Utd and WBA look doomed.
The last relegation spot is probably between Fulham and Brighton.
Hehehehe
Bizarre
He’s been extremely poor on plenty of occasions. Liverpool and Manchester City for two examples.
Accepting the ar*e played very well last night,it has to be said the WBA performance was as bad as you would see in non league.They were dreadful and the fact they’re not bottom is a mystery.Both them and Sheff.Utd.can’t buy a goal.Big Sam is going to need a grammy award performance in the second half of the season to stop them going down.
Dier has been out MOTM or at least the best Spurs defender on show in quite a few games this season and is still settling into the role really.
Deserves to keep his spot for now but his performance levels should be going up and not down at this stage.
Agreed.
you could say that about winks/kane for the wolves equaliser. Kane didnt make the effort to cut out the cross like normal and I think it was winks or doherty that didnt track the run. so you cant make one mistake in your mind if it actually was Dier who was not picking up bamford. I cant remember but thought Tobi was marking bamford all game, Dier leads and puts his body constantly on the line blocking shots and gives every game every ounce of energy.
Agreed … and this is the best rationale for Jose’s defensive system. It is only by compacting the defence that you prevent it from being pulled apart. Davies and Doherty are as slow as a couple of carthorses and Dier is an utterly liability one on one, or when playing a high line. Aurier and Reguilon (especially) are quicker and more athletic and give you more flexibility, but when playing the 3 D’s, it’s damage limitation strategy!
really how sad, offers very little imo, he has moments but doesnt fit jose defensive combatitive midfield role. never tackles never put his body on the line. doesnt track players back, often found in no mans land and cant create . Hes a good player in some ways but would be better of playing for man city where they play quick short passing, keeping the ball moving around pulling the opposition out of position looking for the killer pass. He just doesnt do it for me in a spurs system
No, I would continue with the Dier/Alderweireld partnership, as I think it’s our best defensive pairing, but strictly limit Dier’s distribution duties.
Somebody lost Bamford for that missed header!!
good point but hes still a right back which hes trained all his life as and would have played over his years in different systems. Dier isnt a natural centre back and has done really well to adapt to that position. He seems to get a lot of unfounded stick
In some quarters Winksy was made MOTM yesterday, just saying!
Whats the alternatie Drop Dier and play whom. Tanganga or Roden??
To be fair H, I give Dier credit for a greatly improved defensive side to his game this season, however his passing is generally woeful and was abysmal yesterday. A blind man in a snowstorm would have had more chance of finding his own man! He should be under strict instructions, each time he receives the ball, just to pass it off to Toby or PEH, or else maybe he could be fitted with a radio linked helmet, like an NFL quarterback, equipped with radar, a compass and scripted set plays!
The only thing that is saving this defence is the system Jose is playing. If he played open football we would get pulled apart. A defence with dier Davies and Doherty is not one that fills you with confidence before every game no matter who you are playing.
A tad harsh. It’s not great but IMO his passing is not as bad as suggested. If anybody is prepared to put their body on the line making vital last ditched challenges/winning headers as he did in our last gasp victory against the Baggies it’s Dier.
Regarding our archest N London rivals (I thought I’d mention them (ouch) crisis what crisis? when not only have they quickly turned their form around thanks to their youngsters but following their 4-0 demolition of the Baggies (whom yes we struggled to beat 1-0) they are now playing Barcelona exciting tippy tappy one touch football which fellow posters on this blog are demanding and seemingly not overly reliant on Auby for goals!! IT’S A FUNNY OLD GAME!
Doherty is in his preferred position but in in his preferred system at wolves he was used to attack alot more and defend less
considering its a new position for him I believe he has improved massively where doherty is playing in his preferred position. He also seems to lead the back four constanty pulling people back into position. Stats only show part of the picture. my big concern is winks
For someone as big as he is he gets pushed over very easily. As for his passing it’s like my crohns it’s sh**e.
Until we attract somebody better solid Eric Dier is probably one of the first on Jose’s team sheet. Regarding his passing it’s fair to say that he has not perfected the Stevie G art of long raking passes yet!!
His defending seems ok..
But he plays at least one aimless pass to set up an opposition attack a game…against quality you will get punished.