Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Roy Hodgson Backs Tottenham’s Eric Dier to Perform Well

By Alexander Balano

BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 26: Eric Dier (C) of England celebrates scoring his team's third goal with his team mates Dele Alli (L) and Harry Kane (R) during the International Friendly match between Germany and England at Olympiastadion on March 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 26: Eric Dier (C) of England celebrates scoring his team's third goal with his team mates Dele Alli (L) and Harry Kane (R) during the International Friendly match between Germany and England at Olympiastadion on March 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Tottenham Hotspur defensive midfielder, Eric Dier, has just received the backing of England’s national team manager, Roy Hodgson, to continue performing well at the heart of central midfield.

Eric Dier’s second season with Tottenham has seen the 22-year-old cement himself as one of the best young players in the Premier League, for Spurs and for England too. All it took was a “simple” change of positions from center-back (and part-time right-back) to defensive midfield.

Related Story: Tottenham End of Season Review: Eric Dier

Looking back at this past summer and the many sales that Mauricio Pochettino signed off on, with a portion of the players being sold central and defensive midfielders, one would have thought that Tottenham would use the money received to add a replacement at what had become a position of need.

Fast forward to the end of the 2015-16 season and not only did Spurs play without a true defensive midfielder, but Pochettino practically converted Dier into one — and it somehow worked despite the risks involved.

It was a far-fetched idea to begin with because Eric Dier had only played as a holding midfielder for a few games when he was a part of Sporting Portugal’s team.

But eventually the England international settled into his new role and blossomed.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 20 : Andy King of Leicester City in action with Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round Replay match between Leicester City and Tottenham at the King Power Stadium on January 20 , 2016 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 20 : Andy King of Leicester City in action with Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round Replay match between Leicester City and Tottenham at the King Power Stadium on January 20 , 2016 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images) /

It’s gotten to the point that Eric Dier has now surpassed last season’s starting defensive midfielder, Nabil Bentaleb, and will most likely remain as a starter even if Tottenham decides to sign a holding mid for depth purposes this summer.

Everyone has marveled at Dier’s defensive prowress for club and country this past season and Roy Hodgson expects the 22-year-old to continue performing well when the 2016 European Championships begins in less than three weeks (17 days).

“It’s a bit of a meteoric rise in the sense that he is suddenly a key figure for Tottenham and then to come in and play an important role for England is a big step for him,” Roy Hodgson said (via London Evening Standard).

More from Hotspur HQ

“He is handling it very well.  He certainly has a very good temperament and he has some qualities in that position that we think we can use.”

After making 51 appearances in Tottenham’s 53 total games this past term — starting 37 out of 38 Premier League games — it’s apparent that one quality Dier has is endurance.

Two years ago, after joining Spurs on a £4 million transfer from Sporting Portugal, Eric Dier made just 36 appearances in all competitions, 28 in the Premiership. Because Tottenham’s defense was bad, Dier was able to get plenty of games under his belt, though not as much as this season has shown.

To make 17 more appearances from last year and really, only miss two games due to suspension for yellow card accumulation and not being brought along with the team to Germany for a Europa League fixture. It shows how much endurance Dier has to play in that many games without getting any rest. Not to mention playing the full 90 minutes in a majority of those fixtures.

In a sense, he’s one of Spurs’ ironmen on the squad.

Now, as for how Eric Dier was able to perform so well at a new position, technically speaking, it could be chalked up to luck, experimentation or even faith.

Because Mauricio Pochettino saw something in Dier’s abilities to take a huge gamble and convert him into a full-fledged defensive midfielder after only making 36 total appearances a year ago.

Next: Tottenham End of Season Review: Heung-min Son

This one little move, a simple switch of positions, helped Mauricio Pochettino solve his team’s defensive problems from last year with the added help of Mousa Dembélé, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, the full-backs and of course Hugo Lloris.

Eric Dier has proved to everyone that he can, and will no doubt, continue his superb form at the heart of Tottenham’s central midfield, as well as Roy Hodgson’s England squad for many years to come..

Home/Europa League