Anthony Onifade

Thu 14 December 2023 18:10, UK

Eric Dier could now be walking on eggshells at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with his time in North London surely drawing to a close after a brand new update emerged.

Only Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies have been Tottenham players longer than Dier, who’s made 362 appearances [Transfermarkt] in all competitions for the North London club since his arrival from Sporting CP in July 2014.

It took the 29-year-old until the 4-1 defeat against Chelsea in early November to make his first appearance of the season for the club after the suspension of Cristian Romero.

The England international underwent talks with chairman Daniel Levy after being frozen out from the squad, while Lloris had been expected to quit the club after 11 years of service during the close season having made his intentions clear to seek a challenge away from Spurs.

Both players were surprisingly included in the 25-man squad for the new campaign [THFC website, 13 September] and Postecoglou said they will form a part of his squad throughout the season and are now available for selection.

However, both players have been unfortunate forgotten men at the club since then with Lloris not even involved once and Dier only featuring because of injuries and suspension.

And according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein, sharing on his weekly Q&A (14 December), signing a new centre-back will be a priority for Ange Postecoglou but it may not suggest someone like Dier will be leaving the club.

He wrote: “Centre-back is the priority, and then potentially an attacker. You will have seen the Jota reports – I have no fresh update on him but it shows Tottenham are considering multiple options.

“There may be little money to spend but that doesn’t mean Spurs cannot be creative to strengthen their squad. On the centre-back, I don’t actually think it requires someone like Dier to leave (which I did previously) but let’s see what the club’s new-look recruitment team, in conjunction with Postecoglou, Munn and Levy, manage to do.”

While that may be a possibility, Dier certainly looks finished at the club given his limited minutes and the stats from his two appearances this season and overall suggest he should be preparing for the worst in January.

Last season, the Cheltenham-born enforcer played 42 times across all competitions as Spurs finished eighth in the Premier League, failed to qualify for Europe and crashed out of both cups against inferior sides.

The England international hasn’t even proven over the past 365 days that he can fulfil the progressive duties that Postecoglou demands from his centre-backs, ranking only in the 60th percentile for pass completion per 90, among centre-backs within Europe’s top five leagues, and in the 40th percentile for progressive passes per 90 [FBRef].

Against Chelsea on 6 November, the Englishman completed 100% of his duels but was only involved in two of them. However, in his 56 minutes on the pitch, Dier only completed 71% of his passes, failed with 100% of his long balls [SofaScore] and failed to register a single tackle as Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson ran rings around him.

The dramatic late defeat to Wolves was a much better performance for the former Sporting defender, registering five clearances and completing 94% of his passes but in the end, he won just 33% of his total duels, and completed one of his five long balls, whilst failing to deal with the long ball that led to Wolves’ winner.

An issue that Dier has regularly faced in North London is that no one has ever truly known his best position. Is he better as a centre-back or is he a better defensive midfielder?

The stats don’t even suggest either and Postecoglou surely knows that hence his decision to axe him regularly so far this season.

With Tottenham on the prowl for a defender in the January window, the omens certainly don’t look good for Dier and for that reason alone, he will certainly be walking on eggshells around Postecoglou between now and the end of January.

The inevitable exit may be upon him sooner rather than later.

In other Tottenham news, a BBC pundit is thrilled with this £11million-plus commitment by the club