Tottenham’s three most disappointing players this season

1. Eric Dier

Jose Mourinho has shown unwavering blind faith in the Englishman, who struggled to get a sniff toward the tail end of Mauricio Pochettino‘s tenure. When Mourinho first took the helm, Dier was employed as Spurs’ preferred central defensive midfielder.

Eric had major difficulties in that role. He had a few bright performances but was otherwise unimpressive. He was infamously withdrawn at 29 minutes after trailing 2-0 to Olympiacos at home in the Champions League. But Mourinho had no intentions of giving up on Dier, who recovered from a litany of injuries to gain prominence in the new gaffer’s plans.

But Dier has, so far this season, been a perennial disappointment. He has cost Tottenham numerous points, either from hair-brained mistakes, a lack of wherewithal or complete negligence. Whether conceding a penalty against Timo Werner that directly led to Chelsea’s only goal of the match, or handling late — although the penalty decision was particularly harsh — against Newcastle, Dier is a mistake waiting to happen.

I still had his back before the 2020/21 season commenced, but he has committed far too many inexplicable, unforgivable mistakes to continually infiltrate Tottenham’s starting 11. If he doesn’t quickly get his act together, time might run out for Dier in Tottenham’s first team. Though it might take a managerial change to expedite Dier’s demotion.