Jose Enrique has claimed that he wouldn’t start Tottenham Hotspur defender, Eric Dier, for England, if he had to pick two starting options for Gareth Southgate, as he told DAZN.
At club level, Dier has thrived under Antonio Conte in a back three, a role the Spurs defender, upon his return to the England set-up, has continued on at the international level.
Dier started England’s abject 1-0 defeat to Italy in the UEFA Nations League on Friday night, with Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker also selected.
Whilst those three were picked, AC Milan star Fikayo Tomori was left on the bench and the experienced John Stones missed out on the squad altogether.
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if you had to pick two centre-backs for England, who would start? Well, Enrique has bad news for Dier, who he would leave out because he thinks he’s not suited to playing in a back two.
“Eric Dier, I really like him,” said Enrique. “But to be honest, he plays in a three and it’s not the same. Playing with two and then three. It’s not the same.
“There are some players who fit in three, but they don’t fit in two because he has been a holding midfielder for a long time as well.
“He played as a centre-back for a long time for Tottenham as well, but for me, if you asking me the two (I would pick), of course, Maguire isn’t starting. Even though I love him at Leicester, I think at Man United he’s been underperforming because of the pressure. He’s not going to have a chance to come back because people will boo at him and they won’t be happy.
“So, I would go with Tomori, who is doing really well, and John Stones because Ben White isn’t in the squad. He should be. But this would be the two that would be the starting, for me.”
THE MAGUIRE PROBLEM
The issue Southgate has is that he is backing Maguire right to the top of the hill, and in truth, it might come back to bite him in the back,
But the other issue he has is that the Manchester United captain’s selection is also creating a negative impact on those around him, including who he plays alongside.
This selection might just prove to be the end of Southgate if things go wrong at the 2022 World Cup because it looks like he is going to select the out-of-form defender for Qatar.
Whether Maguire starts or not, Dier deserves his own start, if England play in a back three, because his performances, for nearly 12 months now, have been outstanding.
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