Eric Dier looks horrible in Tottenham’s midfield. It’s time for Jose Mourinho to move him back into the back line at Spurs.
Jose Mourinho has a long-standing admiration for Tottenham star Eric Dier. Unfortunately, Dier’s recent play on the pitch for Spurs hasn’t come close to justifying that feeling. In fact, it’s time for Mourinho to make a position change capable of saving Dier’s Premier Lesage career.
The only way Dier is going to revive his career at Tottenham is to accept the fact that he’s better suited to be a centre back. That’s where he was supposed to play for Spurs when he first arrived from Portugal. Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino successfully helped him to transition to the defensive midfield during his time in North London.
That experiment only worked for a relatively brief period of time. The ugly truth is that Dier hasn’t played well in the midfield for Tottenham for over a full calendar year. He’s simply too slow to handle the pace of life in the middle of a Premier League park.
For months, Tottenham fans have hoped that Dier’s sluggish play could be attributed to injuries or simply rust. There’s no logical reason to believe that to be true now. Dier’s had plenty of chances to play under Mourinho. His poor effort in Tottenham’s last-gasp win over Aston Villa on Sunday should be the last chance he gets to operate in the midfield at Spurs.
That doesn’t mean Dier should simply be sold to the highest bidder this summer. Instead, Mourinho should allow the player to go back to his roots. It’s time for Tottenham to see if Dier can emerge as Toby Alderweireld‘s partner in central defence.
For the record, there’s no way of knowing whether or not that can actually work. It’s simply the only way to get any real value for Dier moving forward. It’s entirely possible he’d slot in behind the likes of Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez and Japhet Tanganga in Mourinho’s options at centre back.
It’s at least possible that he could break ahead of that group though. Even if he can establish himself as the club’s third or fourth centre back it would be a massive improvement of where he stands in the midfield depth chart. Dier shouldn’t be anywhere close to Premier League action for Tottenham in that spot.
The interesting question is whether or not Dier is willing to accept the truth about his career. He lacks the foot speed and/or quickness to play as a defensive midfielder in the Premier League. His only chance to salvage his once promising career is to return to the back line. That might would his pride, but it could also extend his career.