Some Tottenham fans on social media cannot seem to agree on whether Eric Dier played well against Manchester United or whether he proved himself to be a liability.
Dier was handed a start at centre-back ahead of both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen as Mourinho decided the Englishman with Davinson Sanchez at the back.
For the majority of the encounter, the England international barely put a foot wrong. He was commanding in the air, read the game well, and was a calming influence at the back for the home side.
However, the 26-year-old was turned by United substitute Paul Pogba late in the game and subsequently gave away a spot-kick as he was ruled to have fouled the French international. Bruno Fernandes then converted from the spot to bring the away side level.
Things could have been even worse for Spurs as Dier was adjudged to have fouled Fernandes inside the box late on, with Jonathan Moss pointing to the spot.
Thankfully, VAR intervened on this occasion and rightly overturned the referee’s call as replays showed that the United midfielder had simulated the contact.
While some Tottenham fans felt that, on the back of that showing, Dier is unreliable, others insisted that the former Sporting Lisbon man had a great game at the heart of the defence.
Now the dust has settled, Eric Dier was very good in centre back today except for one moment of clumsiness which went against him. I don’t wanna hear anything else.
— LP ☬? (@thfclp__) June 20, 2020
I'm seeing a lot of shit fired towards Eric Dier tonight & I'm not liking it, he was superb other than the mistake he made, give the man a break ffs, Would you as a Spurs fan have taken the draw before the game started ?
— Paddy?? (@hartnett1977) June 19, 2020
Eric Dier was superb . His block on Martial was world class and denied him an almost certain goal.
The penalty was a disgraceful decision by an awful ref, who proved by his shocking second penalty decision.Bergwijn is class.#COYS— Danny O Sullivan (@ODanosul) June 20, 2020
Dubious penalty decision aside, I thought @ericdier had a decent showing at centre-half. Displayed some excellent leadership skills too! #COYS
— Will. ?? (@WRN89) June 20, 2020
Very pleased with the defensive side of things today. Particularly with Eric Dier. Can understand why he was chosen. I do NOT understand why we subbed Lamela… #THFC
— Spursleif (@spursleif) June 20, 2020
eric dier cost us that game ?
— jason kelso (@SpursJason) June 20, 2020
That was the best Eric Dier out there and he’s still not good enough . Truth hurts
— Sy (@SyClarke16) June 20, 2020
Error-prone David Luiz gives away a foolish penalty – gets slated.
Error-prone Eric Dier gives away a foolish penalty – gets praised.@SpursOfficial fans in an absolute nutshell.#TOTMUN #THFC #COYS #ENICOUT
— Danny Boyle (@DanjoBoyler) June 20, 2020
I'll never be happy while Eric Dier plays, just don't rate him anymore.
— Glyn?? (@Atomheart1972) June 20, 2020
I've just got up and the first thing I thought about was why the hell did Eric Dier even make that challenge ?!?!?
— Jim Barnett (@jimmy_boy81) June 20, 2020
Really difficult to forgive Eric Dier for giving that penalty away mann
— -wale (@whereiswale) June 20, 2020
Spurs Web Opinion
Anyone who thinks Dier did not have a good game was watching a completely different match to the one I was. While I did not doubt that he was going to win a lot of one vs one duals, his reading of the game and his decision making was also extremely impressive. I thought even the first penalty award was rather harsh on Dier as he did not do much wrong. Pogba was looking for the contact and was going to go down the second he felt Dier leaning on him.