Alan Pardew has given his verdict on Eric Dier after the Tottenham Hotspur defender remained on the bench for their defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Pardew was speaking on talkSPORT after Ange Postecoglou picked Emerson Royal and Ben Davies to start at centre-back against Unai Emery’s men.
It seemed an ominous sign for Eric Dier that the England international was left on the bench against the Villans. The 29-year-old had not played a minute of Premier League football before that game against Chelsea at the start of the month.
Alan Pardew bemused by Eric Dier snub
And with Micky van de Ven set to be sidelined for some time, it is hardly surprising that he started the clash with Wolves just before the international break.
However, Postecoglou decided to leave him out against Villa. And that decision seemed pretty significant considering that the Spurs boss instead opted for a backline made up of four full-backs.
And Alan Pardew suggested after the loss that he was a bit bemused by Dier’s snub.
“I don’t really know where the Dier thing is actually, because I know he’s made some errors in the past, but he’s a proper player,” he told talkSPORT.
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“He’s of a standard where you’d expect him to get a start at this point. I do know his family and knowing the lad a little bit, I’m sure he’s very, very disappointed.”
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It will be interesting to see how Postecoglou uses Dier in the weeks ahead. Ultimately, van de Ven is going to be out for a little longer. And Cristian Romero is suspended for one more game. It is also a few weeks until the January transfer window opens.
So Postecoglou may change his mind and opt to throw Dier in again at some point.
Ultimately, Tottenham played well against Villa. And on another day, they could have been out of sight before the Villans got a chance to get back into the contest.
Royal and Davies did not cover themselves in glory when Villa had set-pieces. But there are other aspects of their games where they outshine Dier. And Postecoglou may put more stock in those attributes.
Dier has not been completely frozen out so there is still a way back for him at Tottenham. But you can understand why some may deem Sunday to be a pivotal moment.