‘Huge miss’ – Ex-Spurs man makes comparison between Dier and Vertonghen

Paul Robinson has stated that Tottenham have sorely missed the leadership of Eric Dier in recent weeks. 

Dier has been absent for large parts of the campaign for Spurs since the turn of the year, having failed to shake off a thigh problem. 

Spurs have struggled to gain results in the England defender’s absence, suffering damaging home defeats to Southampton and Wolves in the space of a week. 

Both displays saw Antonio Conte’s elected back three of Davinson Sanchez, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies struggle defensively, with Spurs dropping down to eighth place in the Premier League. 

Ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Robinson believes Dier has been a big miss for his former employers in that span and claims he is one of the club’s main leaders out on the pitch. 

Robinson told Football Insider: “Eric Dier is a huge miss, which I never thought I’d say. Let’s be honest, Spurs have never really replaced [Jan] Vertonghen and [Toby] Alderweireld. 

“The fact they are missing Dier shows how poor the rest of the defence has been.

“Dier is not a top-four defender. He is not a world-class centre-half in truth. That is where Spurs want to be and that is where they need to get to. 

“They’re missing leaders badly and that is something that Dier does bring.

“There are no leaders in the centre of the pitch. Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris are leaders but I’m not sure that they’re very vocal on the field. Dier is vocal though. He can man manage games on the pitch.”

Spurs are set to receive a boost regarding Dier, though, with Antonio Conte likely to have the 28-year-old back at his disposal for Saturday evening’s daunting trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City (Daily Mail).

Spurs Web Opinion 

Dier has been a key absentee recently as he is the one that provides leadership and organisation in defence. Hopefully, he is fit enough to earn a start for this weekend’s tough trip, otherwise, it could be a long match to go through. 

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