He learned his football in Portugal, was very good in our back line as a CD or CM when we played slow from the back with time on the ball.
This is different. Inviting teams on, quick transition etc. He's a good player. Just not in this system.
Maybe, but he hasn´t really worked in any system for quite some time.
On thing is the CA. No-one is expecting Dier to contribute with much. Against organised defences I don´t see how we are now that different than we were under Pochettino back when Dier was good. He is asked to mainly pass it simple to the next man.
As for covering defensively I would have thought this would suit him better than the more open aggressive press we had when he was at his best under Pochettino.
I am very confident that the Dier from some years ago would have played well for us now. Seemingly he was the player Mourinho wanted at Utd as well.
Watching Dier on Youtube from back then you can see Dier carrying the ball past defenders. It is almost absurd how different he was. He even had tendencies to hit those Alderweireld-style passes in a decent way.
What a weird game. We were absolute turd for 75 minutes. Run ragged at home against Soton. Against SOTON!!!
No one lit the world on fire in that game. And there were a few shockers.
Lloris - 4 - which I think is a bit kind. has some atrocious clangers.
verts - 5 - slow. unsteady. no confidence.
Toby - 7 - thought he did well and kept his head while most around him were losing theirs.
Tanganga - 6 - he did fine considering the pressure we were constantly under. could he have done better for the Ings goal? Maybe. As he continues to learn and trust himself, he'll be more confident about getting closer to the attacker in those situations. But overall you have to give him credit for being throws all across the back 4 tonight, but still keeping his discipline.
Aurier - 6 - defending was good. but was often left exposed. not sure if that was to do with the system and him not quite getting it, or if he was simply away with the fairies. attacking-wise, I saw about 4 or 5 crossing attempts. all of them were shit.
Sess - 5 - not seeing it. not at all. seems very weak. and has no passion. plays within himself. the first goal was rather pathetic from him. Yes, Redmond got a good turn in, but Sess stood off the ball and then jumped out of the way when Redmond took the shot. That, to me, is weak.
Dier - 3 - simply awful. much of our midfield issues were due to his inability to play anywhere outside of an invisible zone he's made for himself that's about 10 yards by 10 yards, in front of our 18 yard box. It leaves the middle of the park completely exposed, and the other players bewildered about who they are supposed to be picking up. Even when he is 'present', where the ball is, he's slow, ponderous and lack concentration. Either switch him to a CB or get rid. He's done as a CM.
Ndombele - 6 - he put a good amount of effort in, considering he's just getting back from injury and finding his fitness. not helped at all by Dier's impression of a statue.
Winks - 7 - did well considering the above. tried to cover all the ground he could. but it was often an exercise in futility. No fault of his own. That said, he was a bit shy with the ball at times tonight. I hope the more adventurous side of his game grows under Jose.
Sonny - 6 - And I'm being generous. Would have been a 3 or 4 if not for him showing up to play in the last 15 minutes. up until that point he was awful. Good penalty and brave to take it.
Moura -7 - Ran hard and gave it his all. Yes, he makes bad passes and has an erratic first touch. but I can't fault his effort. and took his goal well.
Dele - 7- played nicely when he came on. better than I've seen him for a while.
Gedson - 6 - ran hard and showed exactly what is missing from Sess's locker. He had grit and strength about him. He has a bright future.
Davinson (NET)
Jose -6 - got lucky. but he was also unlucky with the players he had available. and was also a bit unlucky with how piss poor some of them played. still the formation tonight was off. and why he has completely abandoned Foyth, I have no idea. and I feel a bit sorry for Parrot. If he was watching the same game as us, he was probably thinking... 'I can't be as kack as some of them out there'. hope he'll get a chance.
overall... tough to watch, but if any team deserved a bit of luck, it's us.
oh, and if Redmond becomes available over the summer... i'd snap him up, should someone like Lamela leaves.
No. Crazy are the voices in my head that tell me that the alien invasion has begun and soon we will all be turned into obedient Pugs.Dier gets 3 and Ndombele gets 6? That’s just crazy.
The first half formation of him in front of a back 3 was awful. His special ability is to seamlessly drop back into defence when needed, but he can't if it is packed with CBs.
Once we went to a back 4, I think he really shone. He dropped back into the middle of defence, he covered for Aurier as he went forward, he acted as an attacking pivot and even had a good long range shot.
It was a Dier greatest hits show. I hope mourinho noticed what was happening.
Not motm though, cos of that first half. I gave it to Moura as he never gave up and had a great desire to score.
PS Jan coming off was one of the saddest things I've seen at the club. He was absolutely destroyed by this substitution.
The first half formation of him in front of a back 3 was awful. His special ability is to seamlessly drop back into defence when needed, but he can't if it is packed with CBs.
Once we went to a back 4, I think he really shone. He dropped back into the middle of defence, he covered for Aurier as he went forward, he acted as an attacking pivot and even had a good long range shot.
It was a Dier greatest hits show. I hope mourinho noticed what was happening.
Not motm though, cos of that first half. I gave it to Moura as he never gave up and had a great desire to score.
PS Jan coming off was one of the saddest things I've seen at the club. He was absolutely destroyed by this substitution.
The first half formation of him in front of a back 3 was awful. His special ability is to seamlessly drop back into defence when needed, but he can't if it is packed with CBs.
Once we went to a back 4, I think he really shone. He dropped back into the middle of defence, he covered for Aurier as he went forward, he acted as an attacking pivot and even had a good long range shot.
It was a Dier greatest hits show. I hope mourinho noticed what was happening.
Not motm though, cos of that first half. I gave it to Moura as he never gave up and had a great desire to score.
PS Jan coming off was one of the saddest things I've seen at the club. He was absolutely destroyed by this substitution.
The errors were really not the sort he usually makes - I’ve never seen him be so hesitant to come off his line as the Ings chance (if anything the opposite is more often the problem) and he doesn’t usually parry the ball into trouble. I’ll write it off as a bad day at the officeHugo will cost us more and more, need to replace imo
I’ll give it to Jose. How do you know it wasn’t mind games he was playing by waiting until the 60th min to bring on Alli and Gedson which blew Southampton away after they scored. After 70mins it was all us again like against city. Either Jose is lucky or he’s just the master at mind games. If we started with Alli and Gedson that would of set the tempo for the whole game and we might have lost but after the 70th min tempo went up ten fold. Make of it what you will but this guy is all about getting into opponents heads.
The errors were really not the sort he usually makes - I’ve never seen him be so hesitant to come off his line as the Ings chance (if anything the opposite is more often the problem) and he doesn’t usually parry the ball into trouble. I’ll write it off as a bad day at the office
Not really apart from that one brain fart moment Hugo had I don’t remember them creating much at all. Yes they had the majority of the ball but they didn’t create very much with it. Even their goal should be been parried away by Hugo instead of into the path of their player. The only other clear cut chance they had they took with Ings because he’s clinical.how do I know it wasn’t mind games? Because we could have been 3 down and the tie over by 60 mins. Credit to Jose for the substitutions but you also have to say his initial selection and formation didn’t work at all