Spurs News: Eric Dier gives three reasons for Tottenham Hotspur’s draw vs Southampton
Eric Dier was one of the poorest players on the pitch for Tottenham Hotspur in the 3-3 draw against Southampton at St. Mary’s on Saturday.
The England international was too slow to get in front of Che Adams and let a Theo Walcott cross glide in front of his face for Southampton’s opening goal. The goal resulted from a simple pass between Ivan Perisic and Ben Davies dissecting our defence.
When we play a five-at-the-back system, giving such space to the opposition is unacceptable. Dier was at fault for this but so were those around him.
For the second goal, Dier was surprisingly standing dead centre of the goal alongside Harry Kane to protect the goal-line. It was a shocking sight to see.
That area would have already been covered by Fraser Forster. Dier should have been defending near the penalty spot, where Walcott found the space and scored in the 77th minute to make the scoreline 3-2.
Dier is right, but he should step up as well
Just a few minutes after coming on, Pape Matar Sarr conceded a penalty kick by catching Ainsley Maitland-Niles with a rash kick inside the box. James Ward-Prowse converted the spot-kick in the 93rd minute to take away a point for his relegation-threatened side.
Speaking after the draw against manager Ruben Selles’ side, Dier said that Spurs firstly made sloppy mistakes, then lost possession easily, and switched off after taking a two-goal lead (h/t Football.London):
“Sloppy mistakes. We lost possession easily, we didn’t have control of the game at 3-1 when we should have. Really poor goals. We shouldn’t let them back into the game. They lost both their centre-backs and we should cause them a lot more problems. We only have ourselves to blame.”
Dier is one of the many Spurs players that need to lift their game. Davinson Sanchez, Dier and Davies were second-choice under Mauricio Pochettino but five years on, they still find themselves in and around the starting XI.
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We have to make upgrades at the back. To score thrice and still not win is terrible and can, in no way, be the foundation of a team that wants UEFA Champions League football. Don’t get us wrong… Dier and Davies have been excellent servants for the club. But we need upgrades and we need them now.
