Eric Dier, the 21 year old Englishman brought up through the Sporting Lisbon academy has just completed his first season at his new club Tottenham Hotspur. Eric has been at Sporting Lisbon since the age of 8 when a PE teacher recommended him to the club and he’s continued to develop and force his way into the 1st team. Multiple top tier English clubs had been scouting him in recent years as he’d stated before that his dream was always to play in the Premier League and Tottenham eventually beat out the competition from Arsenal, Everton, and Manchester United to sign the defender in August 2014.With the new season looming, the newboy kept a positive attitude awaiting opening day and his first chance to impress.
Eric’s new life at the North London club couldn’t have started any better as he snatched a goal deep into stoppage against London rivals West Ham. As if his wondrous debut versus West Ham wasn’t a good enough performance he added another goal to his tally in Tottenham’s 2nd game against QPR. Things were shaping up for Dier and by now he was already becoming a fan favorite amongst the supporters.
Apart from Dier’s surprisingly good start in the goals department he also provided much needed defensive quality for Tottenham with his physical presence and ability to block shots. Dier was also impressive as a right-back which was the position Pochettino predominantly played him at throughout the season. During Dier’s time at right-back and within his numerous strong defensive performances he became a defensive outlet of sorts looking very comfortable on the ball and racking up nearly 950 passes and adding two assists to his already varied stats record.
Inevitably there are some negatives to take away from Dier’s first season and it comes as no surprise based off of his age and lack of experience. Occasional defensive mishaps and lapses of judgement were dotted among Dier’s season most of which led to Eric either getting booked or Spurs conceding. Even though Dier had a relatively up and down season, looking back on his first season in the Premier League should fill Spurs supporters with excitement and positive anxiety to see what this youngster can bring to the table not only at the club level but to the national stage as well.
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