The Sun’s Martin Lipton has said that Tottenham Hotspur see Eric Dier’s leadership skills as invaluable even though the centre-back might not feature regularly in the starting eleven during the upcoming season.
If one were to gauge the sentiment of the Spurs fans based on social media, it is evident that some of the fan base wants to see the back of Dier this summer on the back of his poor end to last season.
However, the 29-year-old looks set to stay, with The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare stating back in June that the centre-back is more likely to leave next summer when his contract runs out than he is during the current transfer window.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel also revealed last month that the England international wants to stay at the club and fight for his place in the side under Ange Postecoglou (LWOS podcast).
Eric Dier has an important role in the Spurs squad
Lipton has now asserted that despite what some Spurs fans think of Dier, the centre-back is viewed by many at the club as ‘a cornerstone of the squad’, given his leadership skills and his experience.
The journalist said on The Last Word on Spurs: “The fans don’t like Dier, but I think Dier’s role will be as a squad player, not as a first-team player. He’s important in the squad as a human being, as a man, as an experienced head, and maybe if he played fewer games he’d be a better player as well.
“His mistakes seem to lead to goals, last season he had a good start to the season, and then he dropped off a cliff, but I don’t think he’ll go because I think they actually want him to be a cornerstone of the squad even if he’s not a starter in the team.”
As Lipton points out, Dier was extremely consistent during the first 12 months of Conte’s reign and the defender admitted to playing through an injury during the second half of last season, which would explain his poor form.
Unfortunately, fans are not prepared to cut him some slack like they are prepared to do with Son, who also admitted to playing through pain.
Despite what some supporters think, every single Spurs manager has had a key role for Dier and I would not be surprised if the 29-year-old also wins over Postecoglou, and ends up getting much more game time next season than most people anticipate.
