Paul Robison has admitted that he is yet to be convinced by Eric Dier this season despite the midfielder being reinstated into the first-team by Jose Mourinho.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and England no. 1 confessed that the defensive midfielder was hardly troubled by Burnley on the weekend in Spurs’ 5-0 win against the Clarets, and that Dier is yet to convince Robinson by his form so far this season.
Mourinho has been a clear fan of Dier ever since his days as manager of Manchester United, with The Independent reporting that the Portuguese boss was keen on signing the former Sporting Lisbon defender in the summer of 2017, yet since then, the Tottenham ball-winning player has dipped massively in form, and Robinson is yet to see any of that this season.
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The former Spurs shot-stopper said: “I think he wasn’t really troubled against Burnley. I think it was a stroll in the park for Spurs as Burnley were poor defensively and offensively. I think it was an easy game for Eric Dier to get through, Jose clearly likes him by putting him in that defensive midfield role. But I’m yet to be convinced by his form this season.”
The arrival of Mourinho shortly after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked as Tottenham manager stereotypically spurred supporters to claim that Dier’s career with the north London club might be reborn given the former Man United manager’s admiration of the midfielder, and that has somewhat been the case.
As stats from Transfermarkt show, Dier has started all but one game since Mourinho’s appointment at Tottenham, the match the midfielder missing being Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, but with the midfield pivot the part of the XI that the Portuguese manager has tinkered with the most as per Tifo Football, the former Sporting man could find himself out of the first-team again should performances again begin to drop off.