There was intrigue around how José Mourinho would approach his first game in charge as Tottenham manager this weekend as his side comfortably beat West Ham 3-2, earning the Portuguese his first three points as Spurs boss.
Mourinho set up with a 4-2-3-1 formation with two holding midfielders, Eric Dier and Harry Winks, who both produced solid displays in the match and allowed the likes of Dele Alli and Lucas Moura to occupy more creative and attacking roles.
Eric Dier’s performance was praised by many fans and many have made comparisons to former holding midfielder players who Mourinho has relied on at previous clubs, like Claude Makélélé in his first spell at Chelsea, then Nemanja Matić at Chelsea and Manchester United.
I always knew Eric dier is going to be an integral part of mourinho’s team. His typical type of player by far.
— Zuma (@swazicool) November 23, 2019
Scenes when Mourinho signs Matic off us to partner with Eric Dier… #mufc
— United In Focus (@UnitedInFocus) November 19, 2019
Wrong. He was everywhere pic.twitter.com/4Vsitrk4xz
— crageking (@CraginKing) November 24, 2019
Some fans have questioned whether Dier will continue to feature under Mourinho in the coming weeks, despite the former Manchester United manager typically favouring defensive midfielders like Dier. Others also felt that the midfielder gave the ball away cheaply throughout the West Ham game.
https://twitter.com/rickthereduk/status/1198213985297813505
https://twitter.com/LewisDavis9/status/1198250206166433794
Less than 60% fans should calm down. He did ok at best but he needs games and Mourinho will get the old Dier back
— The Games About glory (@TrickTrick85) November 24, 2019
Spurs fans seem to be split on Eric Dier and how much he will feature under Mourinho, but Dier has shown potential to be an excellent holding midfielder in the past so the question is whether Mourinho will be able to get the best out of Dier in the coming weeks.