A section of football fans have taken to Twitter to mock Sam Allardyce’s claim that Eric Dier is as good as Spanish star Sergio Busquets.
Ex-England manager Allardyce claimed on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast programme on Tuesday morning that “Busquets is no better than Dier” and that the Tottenham man “does a similar job but he gets a lot of criticism for it”.
"Busquets is no better than Dier…
…Dier does a similar job to Busquets but he gets a lot of criticism for it!"
Sam Allardyce believes #THFC's @EricDier is as good as Barca's Busquets but doesn't get the same credit! ?
? Take a listen & give us your thoughts! ? pic.twitter.com/WOhINsq4og
— talkSPORT Breakfast (@TSBreakfast) October 16, 2018
Supporters of various clubs picked holes in Allardyce’s claim, through memes and comments including
This Is Futbol has rounded up some of the best tweets below.
COMMENTARY:
Allardyce is right in claiming Dier doesn’t get the credit he deserves from English observers, and that it would be a slightly different story if he had a foreign-sounding name. But, while Dier and Busquets play in the same position for their clubs, it is patently ridiculous to claim the Spurs 24-year-old is the equal of the Spain all-time great. Even Dier’s loved ones and biggest admirers wouldn’t get away with saying that. The versatile Englishman has had a pretty mediocre 12 months in which he has just about kept his club place, but has been frequently criticised by his own supporters for his lack of adventure and predictability. When used in a centre-back role, Dier has also been guilty of regular errors. By comparison, Busquets is a rock for club and country, and was a key man once again for Barcelona last season as they romped to the league title. His reputation as one of the outstanding midfield anchormen of his generation is well deserved.
Wow.That is big Sam in a nutshell.
Eric Dier is average at best.— Dean (@deanodiamond) October 16, 2018
— ??SWAMPY???NUFC?? (@swampthing_71) October 16, 2018
Dear oh deary me. ?
— JoeyP? (@joeypiercy_) October 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/AwBissell/status/1052090931376205824
Sergio Busquets was playing at a higher level than Dier is now, when he was 17.
England win a glorified friendly and all of a sudden they’ve got the best players in the world again.
— total Barça (@totalBarca) October 16, 2018
This is the stupidest thing I’ve seen all week but then I realised it’s Sam Allerdyce who’s said this so I’m not surprised. Brexit means Brexit.
— Retro United (@Retro_Utd) October 16, 2018
Even Eric Dier would tell you that is an outrageous statement.
— Jamie Holme (@JamieHolme) October 16, 2018
What is it with the name Dier (both spellings (Dyer)) that turns people in to gibbering morons? Big Sam’s clearly lost it, and pretty sure I even once seen someone say that Kieron Dyer was better than Cristiano Ronaldo. Peculiar.
— Jamie Stewart (@J_Stewing) October 16, 2018
Am speechless ?? pic.twitter.com/PK7UH7ukAA
— JD (@LionelAFC) October 16, 2018