Eric Dier was taken off early during Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League game this week.
With Tottenham trailing Olympiakos 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening after just 19 minutes, Mourinho decided to take off defensive-minded Dier for attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen.
It must have been a bitter disappointment for the 25-year-old England international – who can operate as a defensive midfielder or as a defender – to be taken off in the first half, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with it.
Former Chelsea striker Cascarino has outlined how Mourinho should handle Dier now.
Cascarino wrote in The Times: “Managers have to be selfish in their thinking. Football at the highest level is driven by results and they cannot afford to make too many mistakes. Big calls have to be made and sometimes an individual player must be the fall guy.
“What managers have to do after the game is ensure that player still feels part of their plans. Even though Mourinho went out of his way to absolve Dier from blame, he will need to put an arm around the midfielder at training and make sure he feels 10ft tall the next time he plays for Spurs.”
Bouncing back
Dier was not the only Tottenham player who played poorly in the opening minutes of the Champions League game against Olympiakos, but it is clear that the Englishman needs to improve.
The 25-year-old has not been great this season, and the former Sporting Lisbon player has to improve and step up his game.
According to WhoScored, Dier has played 282 minutes in the Premier League and 141 in the Champions League for Spurs so far this season.
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