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Eric Dier

Luka Van der Bale

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Jan 29, 2011
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Perception is a funny thing. He played a number of forward passes into the feet of the forwards on Saturday similar to the one for Lamela's goal. Were they played by someone like Ruben Neves, who has a reputation for good passing, you'd notice immediately and be very impressed; when it's Dier it sometimes goes unnoticed. Watching the game live, I was underwhelmed by Dier's performance, but I rewatched the match on Sunday and realised he'd had a very, very good game.
 

dtxspurs

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Dec 28, 2017
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Perception is a funny thing. He played a number of forward passes into the feet of the forwards on Saturday similar to the one for Lamela's goal. Were they played by someone like Ruben Neves, who has a reputation for good passing, you'd notice immediately and be very impressed; when it's Dier it sometimes goes unnoticed. Watching the game live, I was underwhelmed by Dier's performance, but I rewatched the match on Sunday and realised he'd had a very, very good game.
He just runs so hot and cold it seems. He's capable of doing the job, we've seen it. We've seen him be able to break up play from midfield, we've seen him pass the ball forward and start attacks. He's capable of playing through balls, switching the field quickly, playing balls over the top of the defense, etc. We know he can do it, that's whats frustrating for me.
 

Luka Van der Bale

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Jan 29, 2011
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He just runs so hot and cold it seems. He's capable of doing the job, we've seen it. We've seen him be able to break up play from midfield, we've seen him pass the ball forward and start attacks. He's capable of playing through balls, switching the field quickly, playing balls over the top of the defense, etc. We know he can do it, that's whats frustrating for me.
This is exactly it. He’s genuinely capable of every element of being a good deep lying midfielder (although I do think he has a higher potential as a centre back), but since his first season in midfield he hasn’t put all those elements together into one performance anywhere near often enough.
 

tooey

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Apr 22, 2005
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He seems to lack too many key ingredients of a DM to really ever be considered a great player in that position. His range of passing has never bothered me, he's more than capable of picking a pass, what does bother me is his lack of awareness on the ball, I've lost count of the amount of times he's been robbed of the ball because he hasn't clocked somebody behind him or he's played a pass backwards into the path of the opposition because he hasn't bothered to look up. Great player's, midfielders especially, have a picture in their head of the entire pitch before the ball comes to them, they know where their touch needs to go, if they need to turn, if they have time or if they need to offload quickly. Dier doesn't have that ability and that really does restrict us when we look to go through the middle. He shines when we're dominating because he has oodles of time. He's also not particularly aggressive in pressing, the trade off being that he should be dropping in and picking up any runners, nope, he seems to end up in a halfway house and the ball is just passed around him. All those negatives aside he clearly possesses a fantastic mentality and whilst not world class in any position he is capable in a few.
 

Wingnut_on_the_go

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Aug 21, 2010
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Every player has a dip in form every so often, Dier is having one now so what's the best thing Poch can do? Should he drop him and risk giving him confidence issues or should he coach him through it and try to make him a better player? Harry Kane, Eriksen, Dembele and Toby are all in a bad run of form at the moment but hardly getting anywhere near the same amount of criticism as Dier. Maybe people need a scapegoat now that Sissoko isn't playing atm.

I actually think he has played better in his last 2 games, not hard i know but he is showing signs of improvement and i wouldn't be surprised to see him against Watford tonight, in defence.
 

tooey

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Apr 22, 2005
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Every player has a dip in form every so often, Dier is having one now so what's the best thing Poch can do? Should he drop him and risk giving him confidence issues or should he coach him through it and try to make him a better player? Harry Kane, Eriksen, Dembele and Toby are all in a bad run of form at the moment but hardly getting anywhere near the same amount of criticism as Dier. Maybe people need a scapegoat now that Sissoko isn't playing atm.

I actually think he has played better in his last 2 games, not hard i know but he is showing signs of improvement and i wouldn't be surprised to see him against Watford tonight, in defence.

This isn't about scapegoating, why can't people make valid criticisms of a player anymore? There's always somebody who seems to think any given player is being scapegoated because a poster/s has given a less than gleaming review of a performance. Dier isn't in a bad run of form, he's put in the same level of performance for the last 2 seasons and a lot of people have voiced their concerns over this time. There's a reason why Wanyama often played ahead of Dier when he was fit and firing. Now I'm not "scapegoating" because I agree with your point about other players not being in form, all of which have contributed to some of our dogshit performances at the beggining of this season, but Dier isn't in bad form, he's just being Dier.
 

Japhet

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Aug 30, 2010
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Did he seem to be playing further forward than Dembele a lot of the time or did I imagine that? If he was, I don't think the role reversal suits either player.
 

thebenjamin

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Jul 1, 2008
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Did he seem to be playing further forward than Dembele a lot of the time or did I imagine that? If he was, I don't think the role reversal suits either player.

I think because Dembele can clearly only run in very short bursts these days he doesn't get too far forward, as he can't get back if we lost the ball.
 

TheHoddleWaddle

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Dec 13, 2013
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Did he seem to be playing further forward than Dembele a lot of the time or did I imagine that? If he was, I don't think the role reversal suits either player.

The thing is, neither Dembele or Dier offer much going forward. You have to go back 2 seasons for a single assist from Dembele. I think it's a myth about his being better further forward. Personally, I don't think the cm area is effective with both at the same time. There's not many options to shake it up, but with the array of talent up front, i'd be inclined to drop dembele and have Alli along side Dier. Certainly if poch plays a 2 in the middle. Dembele is useful from the bench if we need to play keepy ball.
 

SdB

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Aug 23, 2013
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He just runs so hot and cold it seems. He's capable of doing the job, we've seen it. We've seen him be able to break up play from midfield, we've seen him pass the ball forward and start attacks. He's capable of playing through balls, switching the field quickly, playing balls over the top of the defense, etc. We know he can do it, that's whats frustrating for me.

Yep, looks like he's developed 'billy big bollox' syndrome and is coasting and not doing the graft that got him the recognition in the first place..
Happened to plenty of our players over recent years.
 

SdB

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Aug 23, 2013
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The thing is, neither Dembele or Dier offer much going forward. You have to go back 2 seasons for a single assist from Dembele. I think it's a myth about his being better further forward. Personally, I don't think the cm area is effective with both at the same time. There's not many options to shake it up, but with the array of talent up front, i'd be inclined to drop dembele and have Alli along side Dier. Certainly if poch plays a 2 in the middle. Dembele is useful from the bench if we need to play keepy ball.

Ali and Dier as a CM 2 would offer minimal protection to the back 4.
 

TheHoddleWaddle

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Dec 13, 2013
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Ali and Dier as a CM 2 would offer minimal protection to the back 4.

Other players in that position offer nothing going forward and you end up with the same old, same old good it over the top. Alli is industrious enough to assist with defensive duties. He s not the cm answer, perhaps, in a 2 but at the moment something has to change. Dembele isn't the attacking answer, he adds nothing in that respect. When poch plays the dier / dembele axis, the whole team suffers the same old hoof ball to the top. I'd prefer a cm3 personally. Which addresses both areas.
 

TheHoddleWaddle

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Dec 13, 2013
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Yep, looks like he's developed 'billy big bollox' syndrome and is coasting and not doing the graft that got him the recognition in the first place..
Happened to plenty of our players over recent years.

Where's the evidence of that? He may be a bit 1 dimensional at times but he is a fantastic player to have in the team. One thing that cannot be questioned is his attitude. Fit pretty much every match, versatile. He might have the odd off game but, labelling him Billy big ones? I don't see that personally.
 

Dillspur

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May 18, 2004
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As a team we’re leaving him behind (much like we did with Wilson). I don’t see any improvement which is worrying, he seems to think he has more time on the ball than he actually has and gets his pocket picked regularly. Every year I think he needs to step up a level and for me he’s just not doing it, he’s a great character, but it’s an area that we can and should improve on and maybe he needs that competition to final step up
 

SdB

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Aug 23, 2013
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Where's the evidence of that? He may be a bit 1 dimensional at times but he is a fantastic player to have in the team. One thing that cannot be questioned is his attitude. Fit pretty much every match, versatile. He might have the odd off game but, labelling him Billy big ones? I don't see that personally.

All I see now is a player that points, walks and strolls around the pitch.
Have a look back at clips of that player in 2016, when he was decent.
 

Ron Burgundy

SC Supporter
Jun 19, 2008
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OK - I get the whole ‘of he’s our weakest player, it shows we’re good’ argument...but...

Come on. He’s really struggling and CM is a real worry. In the meantime Kovacic looks class for Chelsea.

Has to be addressed in Jan. hope we can keep it together till then
 

ajspurs

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Jul 7, 2007
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I did watch an old video of him just now and the biggest difference to me is probably how much lighter on his feet and more mobile he used to appear, he was as much a tackler and hassler as he was a passer but now it's like he's settled into a more conserved role of just strolling around and trying to spray the ball about.

Thought we were much better at least in that area when Wanyama and Winks came on yesterday, would much rather see either one of them to Dier at the moment.
 

Ron Burgundy

SC Supporter
Jun 19, 2008
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I did watch an old video of him just now and the biggest difference to me is probably how much lighter on his feet and more mobile he used to appear, he was as much a tackler and hassler as he was a passer but now it's like he's settled into a more conserved role of just strolling around and trying to spray the ball about.

Thought we were much better at least in that area when Wanyama and Winks came on yesterday, would much rather see either one of them to Dier at the moment.

His upper body is much bigger. He lacks agility and can look a bit lumbering
 

SugarRay

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Jul 6, 2011
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Still a very good centre half doing a shift as a pretty average/half decent centre mid. Right now, I reckon there’s a midfielder in every premier league team who’d provide an upgrade in some shape or form.
 
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