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Eric Dier- defender or midfielder ?

Is Dier better in midfield or in defence ?

  • He is a defensive midfielder

    Votes: 67 21.6%
  • He is a central defender

    Votes: 97 31.3%
  • He is a utility player who should only play when others are unavailable, or in the domestic cups.

    Votes: 101 32.6%
  • We should just sell him in one of the next 2 windows. He’s just not good enough.

    Votes: 45 14.5%

  • Total voters
    310

Bulletspur

The Reasonable Advocate
Match Thread Admin
Oct 17, 2006
10,690
25,246
Dier can play both...very simple. People should respect the job he does for the team and not continually bash him.
As long as he is ours, wearing the shirt and playing for us I will respect and support him. That does not mean I have to rate him which I do not. That also does not mean that I am bashing him either, its just my opinion of him which you either agree or disagree with. I am not going to play the hypocrite just to ensure a harmonious thread
 

onlyonekeano

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2004
198
283
Probably the most important player in our transformation from “soft touch” Spurs to “most away wins in Europe” Spurs. He personifies Poch’s mentality on the pitch and it’s why he is almost always in the team when fit.
 

newbie

Well-Known Member
Jul 16, 2004
6,051
6,342
I think his been playing well lately he did start the season poorly but recently his been good. We only have 3 fit Cms no way we sell Dier.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,776
99,340
Great player imo. Imposing, versatile and tactically astute. Also moves the ball around nicely and I think his passing is really under rated. He actually uses the ball progressively a lot of the time.
 

JonnySpurs

SC Veteran
Jun 4, 2004
5,345
12,398
In my view Dier has the potential to be a world class CB but will never be a world class CDM. I think he could be very similar to Toby if he took the decision to be a CB. He has a similar passing range, pace, build and ability on the ball.

I like him in CDM but I think he's less consistent than he was in previous seasons. At one stage he looked truly brilliant in CDM but I feel as though these days he rarely has a brilliant game and tends to either be average to good.

With all that said I do think we underestimate his value to the team. I think he offers more than we realise and we miss him when he doesn't play. Ultimately how good he can be in future will be up to him (and Poch) but I do expect him to end up at CB in the long run.
 

Neon_Knight_

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2011
3,975
6,608
How you measure how tactically good a player is over another?
Positioning, reading of the game, decision making, transitional play etc.

Toby, much like King and Ferdinand, is very good at being well positioned and ushering players into less dangerous areas of the pitch. Often diffusing a situation without having to throw himself into a tackle.
From what I have seen of Dier at CB, he's more in the vein of Terry and Carragher. Good, but has to commit to far more challenges and goes to ground more often.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Winks just offers so much more as the single pivot it’s a simple as that. It’s very much the Jorginho Kante argument except Dier is nowhere near as good as Kante.
 

dk-yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2011
4,489
8,020
Do we think that with most of our business being in the middle and towards the front that Dier might now be transitioned back to defence?
 

DogsOfWar

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2005
2,293
3,603
Do we think that with most of our business being in the middle and towards the front that Dier might now be transitioned back to defence?

I think as a pure DM he's too limited so would push him towards CB, especially as there's a decent international career path as well.
I could see him playing as the stopper alongside Davidson-Sanchez.
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
Think he's below average in terms of top6 midfielders but as a CB he will be signficantly better than most on the ball and where his mobility is questionable as a DM, as a CB again it would be above average, I think he could do with a fast cb partner next to him mind you.
 

Joeyboey

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2011
1,806
5,260
Could be a decent midfielder for someone else but for us he’s best placed as a CB.
We need more mobility, quicker movement of the ball and ability to break the lines from a CM.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
Do we think that with most of our business being in the middle and towards the front that Dier might now be transitioned back to defence?

Yep, no way he can be seen as a first choice CDM now, I had hope that he'd be seen as a CB now but with Toby staying and Sanchez his backup I don't see him getting much game time now, best he could hope for is as a rotation option for both roles but I doubt he would want that.
 

ohtottenham!

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2013
7,497
13,030
Yep, no way he can be seen as a first choice CDM now, I had hope that he'd be seen as a CB now but with Toby staying and Sanchez his backup I don't see him getting much game time now, best he could hope for is as a rotation option for both roles but I doubt he would want that.
The Toby situation still seems to be unclear, which complicates things. Agree with your assessment otherwise.
 

Clark28

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2016
2,269
13,040
Hopefully his desire to be in the England team makes him realise CB is an easier path than CM/DM.
 
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