To be fair when people are talking about depth they are talking about the quality of that depth I think. Dembele was getting past it, as is Wanyama. Winks was looking promising but not everyone predicted he would improve as he has done this season. We've had reasonable numbers there (especially playing 4-3-3 with both or one of Eriksen and Alli involved), but quality has been a problem. Skipp and especially Winks have really helped us in that regard though.Only on this place can you have people complain so much about needing more depth in centre midfield. Then after selling Dembele, the constant injuries to Wanyama, and still getting no centre midfield signings talk about selling Dier.
To be honest I agree, I think poch once said he believes that dier can be a good CM but he could be a world class CB and I agree, he’s an ‘ok’ CM/CDM but for me I’d much rather he dropped back to CB when Toby goes, him, Foyth, Sanchez and a new LCB would be brilliant.To be fair when people are talking about depth they are talking about the quality of that depth I think. Dembele was getting past it, as is Wanyama. Winks was looking promising but not everyone predicted he would improve as he has done this season. We've had reasonable numbers there (especially playing 4-3-3 with both or one of Eriksen and Alli involved), but quality has been a problem. Skipp and especially Winks have really helped us in that regard though.
As I said, i'd for sure keep Dier as Toby replacement and for emergency CM cover. Is he good enough to start every game in the middle of the park though? No.
Being honest I think he's shot himself in the foot asking to play CM. As it meant we brought Foyth and Sanchez in who have now rightly claimed spots in the side.
Yes exactly. To me, the carrot for him should be England selection. I think his place in the squad (never mind the first XI) will be at threat starting next year. Other (better) options are starting to emerge in midfield for Southgate. EG: Winks, Foden, Rice, etc. So, if Dier wants to keep playing for England he will need to reconsider his position on the field. And should he decide to be a CB, I don't see any reason why he can't compete with Stones, Maguire, etc for a spot in the starting lineup.This! I love Dier's warrior mentality and i really want to keep him in the squad, but not as a first choice dm. I have no problem with him being a utility player we can use in different areas if needed but he should mainly be played as a center back. He's got everything a good center back needs and the thing he's lacking he can still work on (which is mainly to stay focused throughout the whole game)
He can still be developed, look at Sissoko, you don't stop improving when you turn a certain age.
Dier is more than good enough quality wise though. We're a long way off replacing him. I'm sure a top team will pay 25m for Toby so that will mean space at centre back. Vertonghen isn't getting any younger either and also down to the final year of his contract. I think it makes a lot of sense for Dier to drop into centre back. Not just for us but for England too. He still has a lot to offer us and his qualities are totally different to Sissoko and Winks. He offers better protection to our defence than those 2 when in midfield and of course can play centre back. Sissoko does protect the right back mind but doesn't screen the centre back like Dier.To be fair when people are talking about depth they are talking about the quality of that depth I think. Dembele was getting past it, as is Wanyama. Winks was looking promising but not everyone predicted he would improve as he has done this season. We've had reasonable numbers there (especially playing 4-3-3 with both or one of Eriksen and Alli involved), but quality has been a problem. Skipp and especially Winks have really helped us in that regard though.
As I said, i'd for sure keep Dier as Toby replacement and for emergency CM cover. Is he good enough to start every game in the middle of the park though? No.
Being honest I think he's shot himself in the foot asking to play CM. As it meant we brought Foyth and Sanchez in who have now rightly claimed spots in the side.
No way is he first choice anymore after the way Winks and Sissokko are playing together. Will be interesting to see how Poch plays this out when he's back.
I am happy to replace him if there's better. I don't do sentiments as the club comes 1st. Call it discard, call it replace or whatever but at this moment in time both Winks and Sissoko are better. Like @Trix I never rated him as much as some of you and questioned why he was selected for certain games.Looking at how much he's played under Poch should make it easy to deduce that he'll still play a big role for us when he's back to full fitness. He's been a hugely influential player for us for years and I just think it's strange how easily some people are willing to discard him.
NoCan we all admit he is a shit CM yet ?
Can we all admit he is a shit CM yet ?
He just needs some competition again. One Sander Berge please!I don't think we should sell Dier, what I do like however, is the notion that if he's dropped from regular starting berth, that sees him work his arse off to get back in the starting eleven.
End result, player improvement benefitting the team.
Sissoko being a prime example.
He obviously can't hear you.My biggest issue with Dier is his ability to at least once a game play an absolute suicide pass to an opponents forward, immediately putting us in danger. You could let him off if this happened once every 4/5 games, but it seems to be every game these days. More often than not you can see when it's about to happen too.
My biggest issue with Dier is his ability to at least once a game play an absolute suicide pass to an opponents forward, immediately putting us in danger. You could let him off if this happened once every 4/5 games, but it seems to be every game these days. More often than not you can see when it's about to happen too.
Players peak and mature at different times. Not every single player reaches the same peak at the same age. It's quite possible to peak at for instance 28, in which case there are several good seasons ahead for Dier. More importantly we can't sell him because we don't have cover and we don't sign new players anyway. We already struggle with offloading players who don't play, and buying shinier ones. Offloading players who do play strikes me as an uncommonly bad idea.He is 25 now so can't be considered young and still to be developed..