The rise of Eric Dier

The speed at which the which the sport we love operates, means that we tend to forget, unless of course you pin it to your timeline, what we said a week ago or even yesterday. Where once we were all doubting the deployment of Eric Dier as a defensive anchor, we are now in a situation where the young man has been one of our standout players this season and one of the first names on the team sheet.

In a position that was supposed to be owned by Nabil Bentaleb, or that classy defensive midfielder that we had ITK on, Dier has excelled and despite having five different partners in 5 games, he has impressed each time. His combative nature, defensive positioning and willingness to do the ugly things confirms what we thought last year, that we have unearthed a gem.

From the moment he arrived at Spurs, as an unknown foreign yet domestic import, there has been something different about him. In his first game he rounded a keeper and slotted home, in his second he scored with a near post header. The boy was built a bit different from your run-of-the-mill English defender, he was of course built abroad.

Historically English players haven’t fared too well on the continent, they have been unable adapt to the different culture, football or lifestyle. So many have failed that today it is almost an event when one chooses to go abroad.

[linequote]His combative nature, defensive positioning and willingness to do the ugly things confirms what we thought last year, that we have unearthed a gem[/linequote]

Serie A, when money was no issue was littered with failures, with only David Platt able to claim to have been a “success.” Others such as Paul Ince, Des Walker, Paul Gascoigne and Robbie Keane (not English but the point stands) have failed, some more spectacularly than others. Elsewhere in Europe, English/British players have fared little better (see Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate) only David Beckham can seriously point to any form of success, after winning Ligue 1 with PSG and a La Liga with Real Madrid.

However, players who have grown up abroad and learnt their trade on the continent, have shown to be rather more tactically astute than most English/British players. Owen Hargreaves for example, despite having his career cut short by injuries proved during his spell at United to be proficient in a variety of roles, even putting in a stellar performance at right midfield in the 2008 Champions League final, thereby collecting his second winners medal, despite playing at right-back a few days before.

The Englishman’s ability to fit in everywhere, may have, along with his injuries hampered his ability to break the tabloids favoured duo of Stevie Gerrard and Frank Lampard, but it showed a tactical flexibility that haunted the tabloid duo’s career. Gerrard and Lampard were never able to adapt their game for international football no matter how many times they were thrown in at the World Cup or Euros. This tactical flexibility and ability to understand a new role is one that we are starting to see develop in Dier’s game.

He may not have looked totally at home at right-back at certain points of last season, but towards the end, especially away at Southampton and Everton, his ball playing ability was central to three Spurs goals. The former Sporting Lisbon man learned from his mistakes, such as the one against Newcastle and ended the season as a competent alternative to Kyle Walker.

However, it was at centre-back where Dier showed the most promise in his debut season, even managing to force his way in ahead of seasoned former Sevilla captain Federico Fazio, who at the turn of the New Year, was Mauricio Pochettino’s preferred partner to Jan Vertonghen.

[fullquote]Dier will not allow himself to be bullied, he is calm and collected yet, within the boundaries of modern football, a ferocious ball winner[/fullquote]

It has been suggested by the media that Dier’s ferocity and refusal to be bullied by Diego Costa in the Capital One Cup Final defeat, endeared him to Pochettino. This weekend we saw what happens when you succumb to the giant Chelsea troll, but Dier gave as good as he got in that final, but refused to allow the situation to play against him. This season he has shown he will not back down from a confrontation, but he has the discipline to not cross the line, this was evident against both Manchester United and Everton.

We have seen that Dier will not allow himself to be bullied, he is calm and collected yet, within the boundaries of modern football, a ferocious ball winner. This is something that would normally cost you the best part of £25m, yet Spurs seem to have created one out of nothing (or around £5m), for this a lot of credit must go to Pochettino and his team.

In an opening Euro 2012 group game, a weak Italian team took to the field against Spain, the Furia Roja were in full flight that year playing the false 9 system perfectly. Cesare Prandelli, the Italy coach opted to play, a hero of mine, Daniele De Rossi, in a hybrid centre-back/defensive midfield role, the Italian was superb marshalling an under-strength Italy to a good 1-1 draw with the World Champions.

De Rossi was magnificent in this game as stepped in and out of two roles within 90 minutes, at this stage in his career I would love Dier to use the Roman as his inspiration. To learn how play total defensive football and be an asset on which an entire strategy of a team can built upon.

Last week in a 1-1 draw against Barcelona, De Rossi gave another masterclass in tactical discipline, filling in the gaps, slotting in to make a back three when out of possession, before stepping into midfield to create another three when in possession. I am not claiming that Dier can be the next De Rossi, a World Cup winning Italian legend, but he has the key skills to play a similar role.

However, should Dier’s future be as a centre-back then the minutes he clocks up in his current role will only benefit his game. The last English Spurs legend, Ledley King, spent a large part of his early career as a shield in front of the defence for both club and country. Our former captain was another tactically graceful player, tormented by similar fitness problems as Hargreaves, he used what he learned as a midfielder to give himself an edge as a centre-back.

Once again I may be stretching or entirely optimistic, but Marcel Desailly, a World Cup and European Championship winning centre-back played as a defensive midfielder is his early years at Milan. This may have been down to the quality of Milan’s centre-backs at the time, but at his young age the defensive midfield role offered Desailly a position where he could use his physical assets while honing over the years his positional ability. In 1998 when he moved to Chelsea he was one of Europe’s outstanding centre-backs.

[linequote]Dier featuring in centre-midfield not only gives him valuable game time, but allows him to learn and grow as a player with the freedom to make a mistake here or there[/linequote]

As we have seen with Walker and Danny Rose, growing up in a role where you will naturally make mistakes as you learn your position, but with the added threat of those mistakes being punished is difficult. When you operate in a back line each misjudgment or touch of naivety may lead directly to a goal, or at best a half chance, this is incredible pressure under which to learn and it can quickly erode any bit of confidence gained over the preceding weeks. You may learn more from your mistakes in life, but in football a big error can take a long time to recover from.

Dier featuring in centre-midfield not only gives him valuable game time, but allows him to learn and grow as a player with the freedom to make a mistake here or there. Some of football’s best centre-backs started their careers in the slightly less pressurised role as full backs, whilst others started in central midfield. Not every player has to be boxed, packaged and sold as a complete individual by the time they’re 23.

Football is too complex a game to pigeonhole a young player, we should enjoy Dier in his current role and watch over the course of the next 18 months how he progresses. In one month he is already the best defensive midfielder at Spurs, imagine where he could be in 2017?