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Rather than the fault of Eric Dyer, who makes mistakes every time, there was an opinion that he should not be appointed as a defender in the first place.
Tottenham have been having defensive problems lately. In their most recent match, they conceded two runs. Tottenham drew 2-2 with Brentford in the 17th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-23 season held at the G-Tech Community Stadium in London, England at 9:30 pm (Korean time) on the 26th. With this, Tottenham recorded 9 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses (30 points), failing to rise in the rankings and remaining in 4th place.
This time, they allowed 2 runs and the opening goal. Tottenham’s defensive anxiety is not the only problem on this day. Tottenham have conceded two goals each in their last six league games, including the match against Brentford that day. Also, they conceded the opening goal in all six of those games.
Looking further, the record of conceding is even more disastrous. Only games that allowed 2 or more runs are 9 out of 16 league games played so far. Half of the digested league schedule is over. Although they are achieving relatively good results of 4th place, it can be confirmed that they have more goals than the top teams that allow it apart from that.
In particular, on this day, Dyer made a mistake that could not avoid criticism. Eric Dyer, who played the central sweeper role of Tottenham’s back 3 that day, allowed a corner kick due to a fatal kick miss and provided an excuse for conceding a goal. Dyer had to face a lot of criticism.
However, opinions emerged that it was not all Dyer’s fault. Frank McAveny of the British media ‘Football Insider’ said, “I don’t know why Conte uses Dyer as a defender. I still think he’s a midfielder.”
“If Tottenham really wants to compete with the big clubs, they need to buy a decent centre-back. Compare Dier to Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool. I’m not talking about Dier. Put him in midfield and buy a new centre-back. It’s the first mission for them. I don’t understand why they don’t do it,” he said, citing Dyer’s poor use of defenders as the problem.
However, on the other hand, manager Tonio Conte asserted that there will be no defensive reinforcements. In an interview with British media ‘Football London’ reporter Alex Dear Gold, manager Conte said, “I think our team’s center back is good. We have to keep trying, and we have to keep trying. Christian Romero will return to training soon. Obviously it’s disappointing to have conceded a lot this season, but on the other hand we’re scoring a lot of goals and the different players are creating a lot of chances.”
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