Ledley King has praised Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier for his performances over the course of the current campaign.
Dier was left out of Gareth Southgate’s most recent England squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast last month despite impressing at the heart of the Spurs defence.
The 28-year-old was last called up by England a year ago and has not played for his country since November 2020.
King admitted that Dier appeared to find his transition from a midfielder into a central defender last season difficult but has grown into the role during the current campaign.
The 41-year-old has had first-hand experience of Dier, having been part of Jose Mourinho’s backroom staff in north London and revealed that he was left impressed by his ability to be a leader and help direct those around him on the pitch.
Dier’s central defensive team-mate Cristian Romero praised the former Sporting Lisbon man for helping him to settle at the club and believes that he should force his way back into the England set-up if he continues to perform in a similar manner (The Athletic).
King told BT Sport 1 HD (16/4/22) ahead of Spurs’ match against Brighton: “Do you know what, with Eric, it was his first proper season as a centre-half – where he committed to being a centre-half – last season. So I think he found it a little bit difficult. This season, with a year under his belt, he seems a lot more confident.
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“But one thing that struck me about Eric straight away was that he was a leader. He was a vocal player on the pitch and I think someone like him has been perfect for Romero. He’s a really intelligent guy too, he speaks different languages so it’s helped definitely.”
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Dier has been one of Tottenham’s most consistent performers this season and would have been left frustrated by yesterday’s loss to Brighton, where he and Romero seemed forced into playing square balls to each other in the hope of one of the midfielders dropping deep to pick up the ball or for one of the attacking players or wing-backs to stretch the pitch to play a long-ranking ball upfield but instead had little options on the table.
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