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Eric Dier

Is it just me or does anyone else think Poch's words today were more like he was irritated and sending a message back to Dier's camp - i.e. If you have a problem, come and talk to me ? I am hopefully reading far too much into it. I don't believe there is a problem with Dier himself but I do think sometimes agents engineer interest and stories with or without buy-in from their player-client.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ver-told-him-he-is-unhappy-with-a3422431.html
 
Lack of concentration again today. No wonder his best position now is DM. Those lapses are less punished in DM. He is a good CB but needs a partner to constantly keep him on his toes.
 
He's not a good CB, he really isn't. Well, maybe he could possibly be if he had Toby or a similarly commanding defender alongside him - but he cannot occupy that RCB slot in Toby's absence. At best, he'd be a good sweeping defender in a back three, and he's a good RB (with a surprisingly good cross on him), but I think he's best at DM now - complete turnaround from what he was thought to be when he arrived (i.e, a center-back first, right-back second).
 
I think he simply needs to play one position. If he was a CB playing every week, after 5 matches he'd settle and be awesome.

But to me he should play DM. Wants and needs to be more attacking, and Wanyam has to learn to play further forward.


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He put in two challenges today which were critically important as it turned out. My heart was in my mouth when he left the ground but ultimately they were both successful challenges.

I thought he was OK today but I didn't see all of the match.
 
He's not a good CB, he really isn't. Well, maybe he could possibly be if he had Toby or a similarly commanding defender alongside him - but he cannot occupy that RCB slot in Toby's absence. At best, he'd be a good sweeping defender in a back three, and he's a good RB (with a surprisingly good cross on him), but I think he's best at DM now - complete turnaround from what he was thought to be when he arrived (i.e, a center-back first, right-back second).
I think he is doing as well as can be expected for a young lad who has not had a full season as a CB in England. His debut season had many right back appearances and last year he was almost entirely a DM. And given the tight bond the squad had this year and that he has clearly been usurped by Wanyama his attitude seems great. Of course he is going to have ,any weak spots in his game as the CB role is complex.
 
I'd like to see him have a run at DM. For me, he's better with his feet than Wanyama, but he's looked shaky all year and may well be a liability. Perhaps giving him a game against someone like Swansea would prove beneficial.
 
He put in two challenges today which were critically important as it turned out. My heart was in my mouth when he left the ground but ultimately they were both successful challenges.

I thought he was OK today but I didn't see all of the match.

Agreed

He is better than a lot of centre backs in this league - as the goals against column shows when he has played

In fact I'd say he is better than any at city, pool or united

But I'd still prefer him at centre mid and Toby and Jan back in the centre backs unless we play 3 at the back
 
I think he is doing as well as can be expected for a young lad who has not had a full season as a CB in England. His debut season had many right back appearances and last year he was almost entirely a DM. And given the tight bond the squad had this year and that he has clearly been usurped by Wanyama his attitude seems great. Of course he is going to have ,any weak spots in his game as the CB role is complex.

It isn't weak spots as much as it is total passivity and a scary tendency to switch off at crucial times, which leads to him either getting bypassed or outfoxed when challenging for the ball. I don't think he has any faults in terms of technicality or physicality - but he has some issues with the mental attitude needed to prosper back there.

That may or may not come with time, but for now, I'd be much happier if we get lucky enough to avoid having to play him at CB again for any significant length of time. Conversely, I do think he should be given the DM spot for a bit, since Wanyama's distribution from deep isn't great and we could definitely use Dier's pinpoint long balls in that position.
 
He was. There were a few matches where Dier switched off during some games but we let it go because he recovered well. Even the two great tackles he made against Burnley - he had switched off and gbam! I will give him that though - He is getting better at recovery tackles.

No. Last season as a DM he simply wasn't prone to lapses, full stop.
 
It isn't weak spots as much as it is total passivity and a scary tendency to switch off at crucial times, which leads to him either getting bypassed or outfoxed when challenging for the ball. I don't think he has any faults in terms of technicality or physicality - but he has some issues with the mental attitude needed to prosper back there.

That may or may not come with time, but for now, I'd be much happier if we get lucky enough to avoid having to play him at CB again for any significant length of time. Conversely, I do think he should be given the DM spot for a bit, since Wanyama's distribution from deep isn't great and we could definitely use Dier's pinpoint long balls in that position.

Wanyama does get more about the pitch though so it is a trade off.
 
I think he simply needs to play one position. If he was a CB playing every week, after 5 matches he'd settle and be awesome.

But to me he should play DM. Wants and needs to be more attacking, and Wanyam has to learn to play further forward.

That might be. But how do we actually know this to be true?

According to whoscored.com he's started 13 games as a centre back this season alone. And he's not yet awesome. He's showing a lot of the same signs as he did in his first season for us when he played there. Talent, but far from the finished article and inconsistent.

So much about what top centre backs do is about consistency. And the centre backs that manage to find that consistency at such an early age as 22 are the rare exceptions rather than the rule. So I just don't see why we should think Dier would automatically find that if given 5 (more) games to settle in that position.

Not worried about him at all though. This kind of inconsistency is to be expected and I think there's a reason why the CB position is one of the few where Pochettino seems to value experience higher than other positions.
 
That might be. But how do we actually know this to be true?

According to whoscored.com he's started 13 games as a centre back this season alone. And he's not yet awesome. He's showing a lot of the same signs as he did in his first season for us when he played there. Talent, but far from the finished article and inconsistent.

So much about what top centre backs do is about consistency. And the centre backs that manage to find that consistency at such an early age as 22 are the rare exceptions rather than the rule. So I just don't see why we should think Dier would automatically find that if given 5 (more) games to settle in that position.

Not worried about him at all though. This kind of inconsistency is to be expected and I think there's a reason why the CB position is one of the few where Pochettino seems to value experience higher than other positions.

I just think he is that talented. With consistency (and Poch guiding him) Dier has shown he can develop and improve: at right back then at DM. So given a run of consistent games, he's the type of player who will become more and more solid imo. But I still think his best position is DM as he can pass, and make the most of a freer role.
 
I just think he is that talented. With consistency (and Poch guiding him) Dier has shown he can develop and improve: at right back then at DM. So given a run of consistent games, he's the type of player who will become more and more solid imo. But I still think his best position is DM as he can pass, and make the most of a freer role.

But most talented centre backs at that age do not go from inconsistent to awesome in 5 games. And he's already had 13 games this season to look for that consistency at centre back.

He's clearly talented and versatile, I think only the future will show where he ends up playing most of his games. But to think at this point that he'll suddenly settle and become awesome at CB over a month of first team football seems unrealistic to me.
 
Jésus i can not believe that a player of only 22 and who has played in three different positions for us can be marked out as being unable to play at CB well as he matures. One of the things a CB needs is to establish a regular partnership with his fellow CB ( look at how well Toby and Jan play). I have no idea off the top of my head how many different players have played alongside him during his CB games but it would be a few.
 
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