Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier started the match against Bournemouth today in North London, meaning he has now made the XI for all three of Mourinho’s games in charge.
The Special One clearly likes what Dier can bring to the table, although he must know that the player is far from the finished article right now.
I think that Jose is taking a punt on the idea that he can restore Dier to the player he was three years ago, a young up-and-comer, regular starter for Spurs and England, even the captain of his country at one point.
In my opinion, Dier simply isn’t good enough on the ball and doesn’t do enough off the ball defensively either. However, I do appreciate what Mourinho is trying to do.
Dier was unstoppable when he first arrived on the scene at Spurs and I would love to see him back in that kind of form.
Having said that, I’m not sure this is possible at the moment. I think the Dier experiment has to start away from the pitch, with the midfielder shedding some of the weight and muscle mass he has accumulated.
In that position, you need to be able to cover large amounts of ground with great speed, and Dier simply does not do that at the moment.
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He looks slow, lumbering, and always a yard or two behind play.
If he can trim down a bit and get minutes under his belt, who knows. But, for now at least, I believe that Winks, Ndombele, and Sissoko have to be the first-choice three.
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