Alan Shearer claims Tottenham 28-year-old isn’t world-class

Follow us on Google Discover

Alan Shearer has claimed that Tottenham defender, Eric Dier, isn’t ‘world-class’ and is a player that ‘doesn’t like being put under pressure.

The Premier League’s all-time top-scorer added that Antonio Conte’s three at the back system ‘suits’ the 28-year-old down to the ground.

Dier has been one of Tottenham’s most consistent performers this season and he will probably feel he was unlucky not to be selected for Gareth Southgate’s recent England squad.

If his form continues until the end of the season, including helping Antonio Conte guide the club into the Champions League, then he might earn that Three Lions re-call in June.

But when Shearer was asked about Dier, he praised the player for his performances but added that there is a reason why he plays in a back three, as he told Premier League Productions.

“There’s no doubt about it, the way Conte wants to play, the system suits him,” said Shearer. “I think him, with someone either side of him, to have that freedom, to get on the ball and be that man who can ping it around.

“Also, the protection that is given to him from the midfield two. I think he needs that. That’s why, at times, we saw him struggle in that four. I don’t think he likes being put under pressure. I don’t think he likes being turned when you got a guy who runs in-behind.

“But, in this system that Conte likes to play, I think it suits him down to the ground. And I think he likes that responsibility that Conte has put on him also.

“You talk about world-class, no, not for me. When we talk about Dier playing in a three, there is a reason you are playing in a three because you have someone on either side of you.”

Slowly but surely, Conte’s backline jigsaw is starting to come together, with Dier leading the charge.

Summer signing, Cristian Romero, has hit the north London scene like a duck to water.

Both Romero and Dier are absolute certainties at the back and they can now be trusted going forward.

It’s just a case of bringing in another face, double-checking those wing-backs because, whilst someone like Matt Doherty’s form has picked of late, it wasn’t so long ago that his future was being questioned.