Eric Dier will be ‘very, very disappointed’ with his situation at Tottenham Hotspur after being omitted by Ange Postecoglou for Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.
As the Tottenham boss’s new ‘Ange Imposter-coglou’ moniker did the rounds on social media following a third straight Premier League defeat, this was a reminder of just how fickle top-level football can be.
If the ‘Manager of the Month’ curse really exists, then of course Postecoglou would lose three games on the bounce as well as a host of key players after winning the award for a third time in a row. The Manager of the Month curse, times by three.
Call it Nightmare November, call it No Points November. Call it ‘Spursy’, as Roy Keane rather harshly proclaimed in the Sky Sports punditry box. That remarkable, historic start to 2023/24 is edging dangerously close to ‘false dawn’ territory, even if Tottenham did deserve more from a game in which they dominated for long spells only to be undone by an Aston Villa sucker punch.
Tottenham Hotspur lose to Aston Villa
After Pau Torres levelled with the last kick of the first half, the in-form Ollie Watkins turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the second, Emerson Royal and Ben Davies looking very much like full-backs playing at centre-half as the Villa striker waltzed in to fire past Guglielmo Vicario.
Postecoglou chose Davies and Emerson despite the availability of Eric Dier. A far more natural replacement for the injured Micky van de Ven and the suspended Cristian Romero.
“I don’t really know where the Dier thing is, actually. I know he’s made some errors in the past. But he’s a proper player,” Pardew, the former Newcaslte United and Crystal Palace boss who had a brief spell as a player at Tottenham in the 1990s, tells talkSPORT (26 November, 6pm).
“He’s of a standard where you would expect him to get a start.”
Beginning of the end for Eric Dier at Spurs
Dier has started only one Premier League game under Postecoglou. The England international looks destined to depart when his contract expires next summer.
“I do know his family a bit. And I am sure he will be very, very disappointed,” Pardew adds, albeit while highlighting Dier’s lack of pace as a potential reason for his absence up against the rapid-fire Watkins.
“(Tottenham) do play that high line and that is probably some reflection of who they played today.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
