Jose Mourinho was complimentary of Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive display in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Friday, despite admitting that Davinson Sanchez made an error that led to a chance for the away side.
Mourinho paired Sanchez with Eric Dier at the heart of the Spurs defence after deciding to leave both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen on the bench for the clash.
His decision proved to be the right one as Tottenham’s new-look centre-back pairing hardly put a foot wrong until the final ten minutes of the game.
Dier has been on the receiving end of criticism from some Spurs fans on social media for his silly foul on Paul Pogba, which led to the spot-kick from which the Red Devils equalised.
However, Mourinho insisted that Dier put in a perfect display and admitted that he was extremely pleased with the performances of his two central defenders on Friday.
Speaking to Football.London, the Spurs boss said: “Eric was perfect. I think he had a very strong performance and he was imposing his leadership, physicality, he won absolutely every ball in the air, and won absolutely ever duel. It was a difficult match for Martial, we know he’s a very good player.
“I think Davinson for the 90 minutes made one technical mistake, not tactical mistake, which handed them the only chance they had in the first half with Rashford’s shot.
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“I’m really happy with them, but really happy with Toby and Jan. So at the moment we have four central defenders and no problems.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While I never doubted that Dier had the physical and technical attributes to shine as a central defender, what I was particularly impressed with on Friday was his concentration levels. The England international was fully switched on throughout the game and also showed that he can be a real leader at the back for us.
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