da wazamba： Gary Mabbutt, while speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, has claimed Eric Dier “could be the general” in Jose Mourinho’s defence at Chelsea on Sunday after Tottenham Hotspur confirmed Toby Alderweireld will be out for the next two to four weeks.
da brwin： Mourinho confirmed Alderweireld faces a potential month on the sidelines after the Belgian sustained a muscular injury in the 81st-minute of Spurs’ 2-0 victory at home to Manchester City last weekend.
The Portuguese tactician was fearful of a prolonged absence for the 31-year-old he has called on to play 10 times across all competitions this term, but further assessment earlier in the week revealed the blow was not as serious as first thought.
“He has a muscular injury but not as big as we initially thought,” said Mourinho, via quotes by the Daily Mail. “He’ll have his time to be out but not like a month, which was immediately what we thought. I would say between two and four weeks.”
While Alderweireld will be a loss for Tottenham at Chelsea on Sunday, Mabbutt is confident Dier can step up in the absence of his Belgian defensive partner and offer Mourinho the experienced product he will need beside summer signing Joe Rodon.
“Having Joe alongside him will give Eric the chance to actually work with Joe to make him the player I believe he can become. So, it was great opportunity to get that defence sorted out, and Eric Dier could be the general in there. And obviously bringing in Joe would be a good opportunity,” Mabbutt told Football FanCast.
Dier has been a regular of Mourinho’s plans this term, with the England international opening all eight of his Premier League appearances and playing the full 90 minutes in September’s EFL Cup win over rivals Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Mourinho is yet to put the same faith behind Rodon, who he signed from Swansea City for an initial £11million rising to £15m this summer, with the 11-cap Wales international featuring for just nine top-flight minutes while being ineligible in Europe.
Dier has stood out in the Tottenham backline with a defensive-high eight interceptions, 44 clearances and 23 aerial duels won, while being dribbled past the least (3) and blocking the second-most shots (7) so far in the Premier League this season, per SofaScore.
The 26-year-old has struggled to record successful tackles with just three to his name – five fewer than Alderweireld and a third of Davinson Sanchez’s total – and Mourinho will need to rely on Dier performing above those levels should he hand Rodon his first career start in the Premier League against his former employer Chelsea.
Frank Lampard’s Stamford Bridge natives ranked seventh among all top-flight sides for shots taken per league game at home this season (13.3) and fourth for shots on target (5.8), per WhoScored.
AND in other news, Spurs are in the hunt for a gem who “can do everything” and might not cost Daniel Levy a penny.