Tottenham centre-half told he ‘doesn’t have a defensive brain’

Jason Soutar
Tottenham defender Eric Dier contests for the ball in the air

Former Premier League striker Dion Dublin believes Tottenham centre-half Eric Dier “doesn’t have a defensive brain”.

Dier is a mainstay in the Tottenham defence having started 29 times in the Premier League this campaign.


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He has made over 300 appearances for the north Londoners since joining from Sporting Lisbon for £4.5m in 2014.

Spurs were beaten 1-0 by Brighton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon after Leandro Trossard found the back of the net late on.

The Belgian winger skipped past Dier before finishing past Hugo Lloris to win it for the Seagulls.

And former Aston Villa and Coventry City striker Dublin has hinted that Dier’s “midfielder’s brain” cost Spurs the match due to his role in the winning goal.

“Dier doesn’t have a defensive brain,” said Dublin (via HITC). “He has a midfielder’s brain. That’s the way it is. He’s a midfield player, isn’t he?!

“(Lewis) Dunk, for instance, he just stands up and takes it wherever it needs to be taken. You take it in the face.

“As soon as you turn, that’s it. The goal is bigger. Then you can do whatever you want.

“If you stay big, then you can push right or you can push left. As soon as he puts his feet together, which is what he did, then he couldn’t do anything at all. It’s silly things you know as a defender, which come natural to you.”

Meanwhile, Spurs are reportedly interested in Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Leandro Paredes.

This is according to L’Equipe, who claim that have ‘manifested an interest’ in the Argentine playmaker, with AS Roma also keen.

It is also claimed by Calciomercato that Tottenham want to sign Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo as the Serie A club are reluctant to meet his €6m-a-year contract demands.

Roma are reportedly looking for €60-70m (£50-58m) if they are to sell Zaniolo this summer but the report insists that their ‘valuation at present cannot go beyond €40-50m’.