Former Chelsea striker, Tony Cascarino has credited Jose Mourinho with bringing the best out of Eric Dier by playing him as a centre-back.
Although Dier arrived at Spurs from Sporting Lison as a central defender and was used predominantly in the back line in his first season (including at right-back), it was in midfield that he played some of his best football for the club under Pochettino.
The Tottenham man made it quite clear last season that he saw himself as a central defender in the long-term (Evening Standard) and Mourinho decided to move him back to this position permanently after the Premier League’s restart.
It is fair to say that the 26-year-old has repaid his manager’s faith with his performances since then, with the Tottenham boss now seemingly having settled on a partnership of Dier and Toby Alderweireld.
Cascarino believes that Dier is enjoying the best football he has played in a Tottenham shirt and claimed that he could potentially solve Gareth Southgate’s issues at centre-back.
Here’s what the pundit told talkSPORT about how Mourinho has helped to transform Dier’s Spurs and England career:
Spurs Web Opinion
Jose certainly deserves credit for showing enough faith in Dier to move him to centre-back. However, most of the credit should go to Dier himself as the England international made it clear that he sees central defence as his best position, even though the majority of Spurs fans seemed to be sceptical. Although he is yet to show us that he can perform consistently well as a centre-half over a season or two, he has certainly got off to a very good start this campaign.
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