Tottenham Hotspur’s upset loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers was all down to defender Eric Dier, according to former Spurs player Jamie O’Hara.
“Dyer should have been sold in the summer,” O’Hara told TalkSPORT in the United Kingdom on Wednesday (Aug. 13).레모나토토
“Our players were not good. He should have come off the bench.” “Ben Davies was okay. He did his job well for a non-center back. But I don’t think it was Dyer, he made two mistakes. Both goals he couldn’t stop.”
Against Chelsea on July 7, Tottenham lost two of their top defenders, Mickey van der Vaart and Christian Romero, at the same time. Van der Vaart left the field with a hamstring injury, while Romero was sent off with a red card and suspended for an additional three games.
Dier was the only defender left in Tottenham’s first-team squad as the club lost a third defender, Davinson Sanchez, to Galatasaray. Tottenham called up 2005-born Ashley Phillips, who has been playing for the Under-21s, to the first team.
Against Wolverhampton at Molineux on Nov. 11, Pochettino named Dyer and Davies as his starting center backs.
Dyer and Davies played steady defense to take a 1-0 lead into second-half stoppage time. However, they were unable to hold on in the six minutes of second-half stoppage time. They conceded an equalizer to Pablo Sarabia in stoppage time and a late equalizer to Mario Lemina in the 97th minute.
And Dyer was there for both. When Sarabia rattled the post with a left-footed shot through space behind him, Dyer was there but couldn’t get a touch. The second goal was even more devastating. After winning the ball on the right flank, Sarabia’s through-ball found Lemina in front of goal, who finished over the top. Dyer came forward to trap the offside trap at the moment of the pass but was not caught.
Dyer, who was Spurs’ first-choice center back until last season, has seen his role diminish with the arrival of van der Penne this season. He hadn’t played a single minute in the Premier League before the match against Chelsea in the 11th round, and more than half the games he didn’t even make the bench.
Tottenham tried to offload Dier in the summer transfer window, but it fell through. Dyer, whose contract with Spurs expires at the end of the season, reportedly favored a free transfer.
“We should have gotten rid of him (from the team) in the summer,” O’Hara said. “Nobody wanted him, so he’s back in the team. That’s the problem. The players we wanted to get rid of are back in the team.”