- Apr 23, 2014
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For me if we play 3 at the back - and we pretty much did today - then it seems sensible either Dier is one of them, or we bring in Winks. 3 CBs and a hybrid looks over kill unless we are playing Burnley.
Also Ndombele doesn't pass sideways and Sissoko, when he is not scoring, tends to feed Aurier. So Dier didn't have much of the ball.
Except we looked so much better today, so something was going right. Maybe just his presence allowed other to adventure forward. I imagine Dele is probably much happier with his mate back in the side.
I'm not looking to fix something that is not too broken.
A good DM doesn't try and be an eye catching player. Fans are generally idiots when it comes to the tactical side of the game and they love their DMs running 40 yards at full pelt and put in a booming tackle at the end of it. That's a poor DM, but the fans love it because it is visually eye catching.
Dier isn't the best DM around. In the same way Freund wasn't and David Howells wasn't. But he reads the game well (as did the other two) and is always there to receive a supporting pass and to shield the back four. That kind of player is crucial to any team and one of the reasons we lost it under Poch is that Poch decided that a DM wasn't important.