Eric Dier Believes Tottenham Will Return to Winning Ways

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 29: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City (L) and Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur (R) battle for possession during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at White Hart Lane on October 29, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 29: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City (L) and Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur (R) battle for possession during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at White Hart Lane on October 29, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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Based on the statistics, Tottenham are usually the better team, but the results have said otherwise. For Eric Dier, he’s not impressed by the numbers when his team isn’t winning.

Ever since Tottenham returned from the international break, their form has dipped. Gone are the days where Mauricio Pochettino’s side not only dominated their opponents statistically, but actually came away with wins.

With Spurs picking up their third straight draw in the Premier League, one thing that has remained constant is the amount of shots they continue to produce. Through the first 10 league games this season, Spurs have recorded at least 10-plus shots in every single match.

These statistics point out that, offensively speaking, Spurs are considered one of the more threatening sides. So they’re obviously doing something right by going on the offensive and creating chances. Right?

“I know, but we’ve got to stop talking about it and start doing something about it,” Eric Dier said after hearing Spurs outshot Leicester City 22 to six (via Spurs’ official website).

“It’s irrelevant to talk about it now. Every chance they had came from us and we have to limit the mistakes we make, because it led to their chances.”

“We’ll keep playing, keep improving the way we play and try to get better and try to start winning games because we’re drawing too many.”

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“It’s very frustrating, we controlled from start to finish and we know Leicester’s style so we’re disappointed, we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances or score enough goals.”

Leicester’s style focuses on playing with a compact defense. They sit back and wait for an opportune time to win possession of the ball through their own play, or the opponent making a mistake, and then quickly going on the counterattack.

If it’s so easy, why has Spurs struggled? There could be a number of reasons. Many of which could seem like a definitive answer but maybe it’s more along the lines of everything is the right answer.

Meaning, one, Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld are injured. Two, Son Heung-Min has cooled off. Three, Vincent Janssen is still getting acclimated to his surroundings (even though he’s constantly improving).

Four, even with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Érik Lamela all playing together, the team is still struggling to find a goal scoring threat or playmaker to turn the game into Spurs’ favor.

And five, Tottenham are simply being unlucky despite leading in all the key statistics that should –– theoretically — lead to a win. That is, assuming Spurs score and don’t concede in the process.

Therefore, more or less, Mauricio Pochettino and company just have to keep doing what they’ve been doing, much to the chagrin of Eric Dier. And that is to dominate possession of the ball, create plenty of scoring chances and have a good number of shots on goal.

Next: The Results Will Come for Tottenham

Even if the results haven’t gone their way when they’ve been the better side statistically, Dier doesn’t believe all of the draws have gotten to them. As in, this isn’t why their form has dipped.

“No, I don’t think so because we’re playing well and it’s just a matter of time before it all comes together,” Eric Dier said. “We need to kill off games but this is football, we know what we have to do, we just have to do it.”

“We’re still unbeaten in the Premier League, we’re positive and looking forward to the week.”