In Friday’s episode of the Sky Sports Football Podcast, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho was interviewed following the game against Manchester United.
Patrick Davison spoke to the Portuguese manager following the 1-1 draw on Friday night, and the 57-year-old spoke highly of Eric Dier and his performance at centre-back, despite the England international conceding the penalty that led to United’s equaliser (per BBC).
Davison asks Mourinho what he thought of Dier’s performance, with the former Real Madrid boss replying, saying:
“He was fantastic, I think he played very well. I think Davinson [Sanchez] had one mistake in the first half, where [due to] a technical mistake the ball went to [Marcus] Rashford and Rashford had that chance with Hugo [Lloris]. Apart from that, I think they both played very well and Dier, for me, was absolutely perfect.”
TIF Thoughts…
Despite Mourinho’s praise, Dier’s performance on Friday night saw him earn a disappointing 6.43 rating from WhoScored, although that may have been negatively impacted by his foul on Pogba for the penalty. The 26-year-old won five aerial battles during the match and helped to nullify the threat of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, with the two attackers earning 6.18 and 6.35 match ratings respectively (per WhoScored).
Do you think Dier played well against United?
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It will be interesting to see whether the £18m-rated former Sporting Lisbon man keeps his spot in the starting eleven ahead of Tuesday’s fixture against West Ham, or whether we might see Toby Alderweireld restored to the side. It is perhaps no surprise to see the Portuguese manager making defensive changes now that the Premier League season has restarted, as the Lilywhites managed just four clean sheets in the top-flight before the enforced break.
Considering Mourinho described Dier’s performance as ‘absolutely perfect’ despite the result, we’re sure that the 57-year-old would be over the moon should the England international help his side to a win and a clean sheet against the Hammers on Tuesday night.