A Progress Report on Tottenham Hotspur Defender Eric Dier
Eric Dier will not forget his first season playing for Tottenham Hotspur in a hurry.
The 21-year-old has made 27 appearances since his summer transfer from Sporting Lisbon. He won a London derby with a debut goal, lost another in his first Wembley final appearance and has been involved in a series of memorable encounters in Tottenham's quest for a place in the Premier League's top four.
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The latest of which, Sunday's 3-0 loss to Manchester United, is probably one result Dier would soon rather forget. But while it does not do Spurs much good in the present, it is another experience which should further inform the defender's encouraging progress.
As things have turned out, Dier's season has been broken down into three distinct phases.
Switched to right-back during his match-winning debut against West Ham United, his appearances throughout autumn would be in the position. With Kyle Walker still injured, Dier would compete with Kyle Naughton for match time.
His powerful running style was a useful outlet for an attack still figuring itself out in these early days of Mauricio Pochettino's reign. Defensively, there were strong displays (wins over Queens Park Rangers and Southampton), but also shakier, somewhat culpable outings in losses to Liverpool and Newcastle United.
It led to the second phase of Dier's season, when, in November, he withdrew from the England under-21 squad. The reason, as he told Spurs' official website, was "to work on parts of my game that I have had problems with over the past two months, personal elements I need to work on both physically and on the football pitch that I think will make me a better player for both club and country in the long-term."
Though agreed with by under-21 boss Gareth Southgate, the decision was widely scrutinised. The perception of Dier putting club before country was not helped by the manager's inference the decision to pull out related to the youngster's preference to play centre-back (though the player denied it was a sticking point).
If that was the desired result of his withdrawal, the decision ultimately paid off. Albeit, not before a period spent out of the team over Christmas (exacerbated by a brief injury), when he watched on as Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen formed an effective central-defensive partnership, and Vlad Chiriches and Walker became Pochettino's preferred options at right-back.
Said a reflective Dier in February, per Spurs' official website:
"I think I was lucky to get off to such a good start and that made things a bit easier for me but then I went through a bit of a tough period at one stage, which I think is normal for any young player - especially in English football where it’s so unforgiving.
... I know I’m young and it’s inevitable to make a few errors, but I’ve learned so much over the last six months and hopefully I can use that experience for the rest of the campaign and obviously on into the future.
"
The difficult late-autumn/early-winter period gave way to the next phase, one which looks to have set Dier on a more prominent path for the foreseeable future.
When Fazio got injured in January, Dier got the nod ahead of previous centre-back starters Chiriches and Younes Kaboul to start with Vertonghen. The first choice in domestic competition since then, Dier's continued selection has been warranted by the experiences it has provided the talented young defender. Ones crucially backed up just enough by the general standard of his performances.
The Dier-Vertonghen partnership requires work if it is to remain Spurs' defensive bedrock. The Liverpool away loss—notably the unchecked Mario Balotelli's winner—and the home draw with West Ham demonstrated the need for greater cohesion between them.
With each passing game there have been signs of the Englishman and Belgian sharing an improved understanding. Ideally, Pochettino would probably like it to be so dominant as to be more regularly capable of rectifying mistakes by team-mates further forward. A big ask in the Argentine's offensive, high-risk attacking style, but one he will want fulfilled.
As well as working on his concentration (though he is not alone in the Spurs defence there), Dier's hesitant, somewhat cumbersome footwork and anticipation in one-on-ones needs to be sharpened. Wayne Rooney for Manchester United on Sunday and Liverpool's Lazar Markovic both capitalised on putting him on the back foot.
These are the areas Dier will hope to learn from. But he is already an accomplished performer in others.
"I like to play alongside him, he talks well, defends well and he’s doing great at the moment," Vertonghen told his club's official website last week. "He’s a strong guy as well with good feet."
Indeed, Dier's comfort in possession does make him a good fit in a team encouraged to play from the back. In and around the penalty box (with more time to anticipate moves at least), his strength and excellent timing in the tackle makes him a formidable opponent for strikers.
Dier's running battle with Chelsea's Diego Costa was one of the Capital One Cup final's more entertaining subplots. Costa ultimately won it, but the Spurs man commendably held his own against the scrappy striker. Proof of a big-game mentality was also seen in an assured showing in the north London derby too.
Nine games are left for Tottenham this season. Dier has already packed a lot into this campaign. Should he finish it positively, there is reason to believe he will partake in a whole lot more of football's most noteworthy experiences in the coming years.
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