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Tottenham tactics: Victor Wanyama has overtaken Eric Dier

By Rucker Haringey

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Victor Wanyama of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after his team mate scores the first goal for their side during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at White Hart Lane on August 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Victor Wanyama of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after his team mate scores the first goal for their side during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at White Hart Lane on August 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham must stick with Victor Wanyama

A funny thing happened at Tottenham this summer. While Eric Dier was off proving his worth with the England squad, Spurs elected to purchase some competition in the form of Victor Wanyama. Now, the Kenyan is firmly ahead of Dier in Mauricio Pochettino’s pecking order.

It’s safe to say this isn’t what many Tottenham fans expected when Wanyama arrived at White Hart Lane. After all, Spurs only paid Southampton a reported 11 million pound transfer fee for the physical midfielder.

The book on Wanyama when he arrived was that he would be a solid, but unspectacular option for Pochettino in the double-pivot. In reality, he’s turned out to be much more than that. Now, he’s earned the right to be one of the first names on the Tottenham team sheet.

He’s outplayed Dier by a pretty wide margin on the young season. Wanyama has a Whoscored.com player rating average of 7.22 in his seven Premier League appearances. Dier, on the other hand, has only managed a rating of 6.64 in his six matches. If Pochettino judges the two players on their contributions this season, there’s really no choice to be made.

Wanyama also has proven that he can patrol the defensive midfield on his own. His ability to do so was a huge key to Spurs’ 2-0 victory over Manchester City last weekend. Pochettino’s use of him as a single defensive midfielder allowed him to start five more attack-minded players. That allowed Spurs to get their most talented 11 players on the field from the opening whistle. The results speak for themselves.

Don’t expect Pochettino to automatically put Dier back into the starting XI once he recovers full fitness. It isn’t as if he’s going to be banished to train with the youth, but he could be coming off the bench for the foreseeable future. That would be a disappointing outcome for a player who seemed to be on the brink of stardom just a few months ago.

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Fortunately for Dier, Tottenham have a lot of matches to play this season. Even if Wanyama holds on to his status as Pochettino’s first choice, Dier will have lots of opportunities to earn his manager’s trust again.

Even more encouraging, is the fact that Pochettino has proven that he is constantly evaluating his squad. If Dier outperforms Wanyama on the training pitch, the Spurs boss won’t hesitate to put him back into the starting XI.

Few would have predicted Wanyama’s rise to prominence when the season began, but his ascent has been swift and decisive. Full credit to the Kenyan destroyer for seizing his place at Tottenham.

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