Pundit claims Spurs star who started against Newcastle is ‘nowhere near’ good enough

Noel Whelan has hit out at the performance of Eric Dier during Tottenham’s win over Newcastle United, claiming the defender is ‘nowhere near good enough’. 

Spurs marked their return to Premier League action with a 3-2 win at St James’ Park on Sunday, spoiling the Magpies’ post-takeover party. 

The most significant story of the match came off the pitch, however, as Dier alongside Sergio Reguilon halted proceedings after spotting a Newcastle fan who fell ill in the stands during the first half. 

It in terms of the football, it was a decent showing from Spurs overall, who rallied from going 1-0 down after two minutes to score three before half-time. 

It was a mixed performance from Dier, though, who turned a Jacob Murphy free-kick into his own net late on during proceedings to make for a nervy final few minutes for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. 

Although Spurs managed to see out a topsy-turvy encounter in Tyneside, former Leeds United striker Whelan was left unimpressed with the centre-back’s showing, citing that he is too error-prone to be a long-term option in the side. 

Whelan told Football Insider: “That own goal was one of the worst ever and the problem with Eric Dier is he makes these mistakes too often.

“For an experienced England international, you have to question whether he is good enough for Tottenham. At times, he looks nowhere near.

“He’s a good competitor and no-one can question his commitment to Tottenham. But, you look at his performances and he is hardly a reliable centre-back at the top level.

“You compare him to Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, Ledley King, that kind of players, and Dier is a long way from that level.”

Spurs Web Opinion 

Dier’s performance against Newcastle was not too bad defensively as he mopped up well for Cristian Romero in the first half. He couldn’t sort his feet out well enough for the final goal, but hopefully that was just a blip going forward. 

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