Eric Dier | Poch: “He is an important player for us and the idea is not to sell him."

Do you want United to sign Eric Dier?

  • Total voters
    547
Red_toad said:
I'd rather win 2 trophies and finish 6th, than finish 4th. Europa league meant a lot to some fans myself included, as it was the missing piece from our collection. I'm sure the Ajax fans would have loved to have won it. But some fans only see the very top prizes as worth competing for, maybe they haven't followed United as long as some of us.

If you can't see the club are heading on the 'right' path, then what exactly are you looking for? All we're missing is goal from all areas of the team. Jose has left his wish list and Woodward needs to get on signing people.
Click to expand...
I think there is some misunderstanding of the context under SAF leading to this disillusion here. It's understandable for any coaches & managers to prioritize for top prizes & ditching the inferior competition. However, only with the context that the focus is to push all the way/ challenge to WIN the top prize. In case you lose out, then it's a disappointment but you learnt your lesson & "bounce back". It's different from mindset of the past decade Arsenal & Tottenham, who seeing 2nd / 3rd position as achievement & not really challenging in the season since the leaders kept maintained a good points cushion throughout the campaign.

SAF was right when he ditched EL in 2012. Mourinho was right to focus on EL at the latter stage where nothing to gain from the league (SAF openly supported this). Mourinho's speech about Chelsea back then, & us about should not be comfortable with/ as EL team (it hindered the ambition for top prize); BUT we have to respect the competition. The aim is always to get back to the top: challenging for top prizes. It's all about context


Back to Dier, I can't see how Mourino rated him this highly. Can be tactical versatile with the attribute Mourinho likes: combative, physical, presence, tidy... Dier as clear cut no 6 is not that outstanding nor CB. He's a good option in the grey zone as I describe. but if that's all to it, then arguably Lindelof may be worth an experimental & we can sign another CB for cheaper price.
 
Last edited:
Sterling Archer said:
I'd pay £50 mil for him now though.

That's what I'd like to see honestly - us sign a name that I'm not familiar with for a reasonable fee and see him develop into a mainstay on the matchday team sheet.

Hoping Pereira becomes that and anyone else we get is a kind of safety net, adds depth.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree with you here, I'd rather nurture a young player for the role like they did than spunk all that money on Dier. Even though he's progressed at Spurs he's still just a squad player, and you know they'll take that money and invest in someone who will turn out to be better.

At the end of the day, I don't rate him as a player and think if you're going to spend that money on a DM you should get someone with a few more strings to their bow. That's why the Fabinho links excited me. If you want a pure DM you may as well just play Jones there. Honestly, he's useless on the ball compared to Dier but just as mobile and a better defender. I feel like Dier is what Jones would have become if he wasn't injured all the time.

That's how little I think of Dier. If we do sign him I can only hope I'm wrong...
 
Can't believe how people devalue winning the Europa league. I celebrate any trophy we win...there are only a handful you can win each season anyway depending on what you qualify for. Go look at the United museum trophy area....that's what it's about. Don't care what anyone says, the EL isn't easy to win...with the amount of games, playing on Thursday's and the travelling sometimes to difficult to reach places. I was bloody delighted when we won it and yes...valued it greatly as, quite honestly, nearly all fans of other teams would.
 
He's alright, I liked him the season prior playing midfield, he'd do a decent job at the base of midfield behind Pogba and Herrera, his short passing is very decent and can put in a tackle. He's tall and strong which Mou probably will like also.
It surprised me how shit he was against France the other day mind, anyway, I wouldn't be against the signing, but 50mill is too much.

Infact all our targets this summer, the fees feel absolutely digusting, 80mill for a forward who's never been a regular starter in his career to date, 45mill for a 28 year old teamplayer and 50mill for a Spurs semi-starter.
Jesus..
 
LeftyBlaster said:
50m? I'll take it please.
Click to expand...

I don't know why. We played a 4-2-3-1 in most games last season, with Herrera partnering Pogba more often than not, and we controlled games just fine and had a good defence as well.

We'd essentially be paying 50 million to replace Herrera with a completely inferior player that would contribute much less in an attacking sense. It would be madness.
 
Not sure what Jose sees in either dier or Perisic. What underwhelming transfers.
 
I wonder if we'd be seeing the same mass outpourng of disgruntlement on here if we could somehow completely remove Fabinho from the equation? Personally, I'm with the following;

Woodenlung said:
If he's who Mourinho wants them get him.

Couldn't give a shit about the £50m price tag. Transfer market is so distorted by the money being pumped into football that £50m is the new £30m.
Click to expand...

Tiber said:
If this is who Jose wants as his first choice? Go get him woody
Click to expand...

Indeed. Weird how people seem to trust Mourinho with defensive signings above all, and often say things like "the perfect manager to get the best out of him", yet so many are vehemently against the prospect of Dier.

King Eric 7 said:
Well I rate Dier, think he'll be a pretty decent DM for us. He's pretty decent in the air, a good passer and tackler, but maybe he won't be making all the fancy moves of a Fabinho so the fans don't want him. He hasn't hit his peak yet and has plenty of time to develop and grow into the Carrick role for us.
Click to expand...

If it signals a move to playing three in the middle more, freeing both full backs (giving Shaw a better chance of succeeding), and allowing our two first choice midfielders more attacking freedom, then it'd be a great signing. His experience as CB is key here, and he's versatile enough to cope with the foibles and intricacies of Jose's tactical needs. Still young enough to be moulded, plays for the NT (keeping Woody's marketing woody happy)... It would actually make a lot of sense all round.

An Irish Red said:
I don't know why. We played a 4-2-3-1 in most games last season, with Herrera partnering Pogba more often than not, and we controlled games just fine and had a good defence as well.

We'd essentially be paying 50 million to replace Herrera with a completely inferior player that would contribute much less in an attacking sense. It would be madness.
Click to expand...

Now this is where it gets worrisome, but if he were to sign we'd undoubtedy see this some games and people on here will go mental. Again though, in terms of rotation/rest, and tweaking roles slightly, it would still make sense.
 
Last edited:
An Irish Red said:
If we actually want those two players then we're going nowhere fast. We'd be average.
Click to expand...


Okay not to pick out your post on purpose again, but we of all football fans should know from our time under Fergie that you don't need a superstar packed into every position to win football matches and titles. For every Rooney or Keane or Ronaldo we've had through the years we've also had teamplayers, "solid citizens" around them, such as a Park or Darren Fletcher or O'Shea/Phil Neville, Nicky Butt etc etc.

If Mourinho a master tactician at building sides, thinks Perisic or a Dier would give us better shape and allow the team to function better as a total unit by freeing up our star players like Pogba/Mhiki or a new striker (like Morata) to contribute better than last year, whats wrong with that?
The bottom line is we want a team thats able to function as a unit and win games, surely? not one that looks good on paper.
 
BennyBlanco said:
If Mourinho a master tactician at building sides, thinks Perisic or a Dier would give us better shape and allow the team to function better as a total unit by freeing up our star players like Pogba/Mhiki or a new striker (like Morata) to contribute better than last year, whats wrong with that?
The bottom line is we want a team thats able to function as a unit and win games, surely not one that looks good on paper.
Click to expand...

I think our attacking players had plenty of opportunity last year; the vast majority of our games saw us dominating our opponents and just lacking the guile to put them away.

I don't see how replacing Herrera in a 4-2-3-1 with Dier would help; in fact it would hinder us. We'd still dominate only we'd have an inferior player on the ball. It's pointless.
 
An Irish Red said:
I think our attacking players had plenty of opportunity last year; the vast majority of our games saw us dominating our opponents and just lacking the guile to put them away.

I don't see how replacing Herrera in a 4-2-3-1 with Dier would help; in fact it would hinder us. We'd still dominate only we'd have an inferior player on the ball. It's pointless.
Click to expand...

If bringing in Dier and moving to a 433 for example, or just setting out that way in big games, could allow Pogba and Herrera more freedom to make forward runs, that for example is something that could be very useful for Mourinho
Last season, we had both Mhiki and Mata wanting to come inside from their wide role while Martial was told to hug the line in more orthodox fashion, which saw us get minimial production out of him both in an attacking sense and being able to being cover our fullback defensively, so transplanting him with Perisic in the side who could.. in theory offer those things better than Martial last season would still no doubt be a big improvement for us going forward as a unit.

Also our last title winning team had players starting like Evans, Cleverley, Rafael, Welbeck and co in it each week if you recall.
 
Why are we even after him? Theres far better options available and they don't involve getting involved with Daniel Levy.
 
BennyBlanco said:
If bringing in Dier and moving to a 433 for example, particuarly in big games, would allow Pogba and Herrera more freedom to make forward runs, that for example is something that could be very useful for Mourinho.
Last season, we had both Mhiki and Mata wanting to come inside from their wide role while Martial was told to hug the line in more orthodox fashion, we got minimial production out of him both in an attacking sense and being able to cover our fullback, so transplanting him with Perisic who could in theory offer those things better than Martial last season would still no doubt be an improvement.

Also our last title winning team had players like Evans, Cleverley, Rafael, Welbeck and co in it each week if you recall.
Click to expand...

There's better (and cheaper) players than Dier out there if we want an option for big games and any improvement we got tactically from Perisic would be negated by his lack of technical ability going forward.

On the second point; we had Fergie and attacking options like Rooney and Van Persie then. When you have elite attackers you can carry average squad players i.e. Dier. We don't have that quality now.
 
In regards to alternative signings, it may be possible that part of the criteria for the position (Jose's infamous wish list) is for the player to be adjusted to the league? Would make sense of the (tenuous) Matic links too. It may help for some to understand why Dier could be first choice.

Complete guesswork though.

Apart from maybe Romeu, is there anyone else that's gettable?
 
An Irish Red said:
I don't know why. We played a 4-2-3-1 in most games last season, with Herrera partnering Pogba more often than not, and we controlled games just fine and had a good defence as well.

We'd essentially be paying 50 million to replace Herrera with a completely inferior player that would contribute much less in an attacking sense. It would be madness.
Click to expand...

There is a large contingent on this forum that are obsessed with a 4-3-3 with Pogba playing on the left side of a midfield 3. It is almost like a cult, that want to limit Pogba's role in the team just so he can make good youtube compilations. He is one of the most physical midfielders in the world with a ridiculous engine, a fantastic passing range and vision, can score goals (as long as the post doesnt get in the way). Apparently the best way to use Pogba is to push him further forward where he has less influence over the game.
 
An Irish Red said:
I don't know why. We played a 4-2-3-1 in most games last season, with Herrera partnering Pogba more often than not, and we controlled games just fine and had a good defence as well.

We'd essentially be paying 50 million to replace Herrera with a completely inferior player that would contribute much less in an attacking sense. It would be madness.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying replace Ander at all. Dier could play at the base of midfield when needed and free Pogba and Ander to run the show in midfield or rotate in and out of center back.
 
I like Dier. I'm not sure if he's the answer to our midfield issues, but he's a good player.

As far as transfer fees are concerned, I don't give a feck. If the club can afford it and the manager wants him, fecking pay it.
 
Giant Midget said:
I like Dier. I'm not sure if he's the answer to our midfield issues, but he's a good player.

As far as transfer fees are concerned, I don't give a feck. If the club can afford it and the manager wants him, fecking pay it.
Click to expand...

I agree totally, why the hell are people obsessed with how much we pay in transfers, it's about getting the players Jose wants, if it means paying the 'united dividend ' then so be it.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Yeah. I know what you mean (I think).

I'm essentially picturing Dier in a very particular starting XI right now kind of context. IF we opt for a 4-3-3 of sorts at that. And the main point of it all being to unleash Pogba as an AM in a freer sort of role.

The question for me – if we're looking at Herrera for the DM part – is whether he's too porous, to use your term. He'd need to be very disciplined in addition to having a bite (which he has). The upside to him in the role is obvious: He's simply a better player, all things considered, and clearly more capable of adding something creative to the part (which smacks more of United, I fully agree with that).

Another question – if we remain with the 4-3-3 idea – is who then gets the third berth. Herrera as the hounding sort of DM who functions mainly as a holder, Pogba in the free role – but who's the middle man?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking you could get a vaguely attacking box-to-box player like Andre Gomes or Rakitic, or a discplined playmaker like Modric or Pjanic? It's hard to know exactly how well-balanced that setup would be with Pogba and Herrera spending most of their careers as attacking box-to-box players too, but I reckon it could. I'm not sure we really know where Pogba's best.
 
togg said:
Can't believe how people devalue winning the Europa league.
Click to expand...

You don't end up competing for the EL unless you do one of the following (from a United perspective): 1) Fail to finish in the top four the previous season. 2) Fail to proceed to the knockout stage of the CL in the present season.

This is pretty obvious, I should think.

Now, can you see how some fans do not consider the EL (which is very different in this regard compared to both the old UEFA Cup and the old CWC) a particularly prestigious trophy? And can you see why some fans might prefer to – simply – finish in the top four rather than winning this not particularly prestigious trophy?

When I see people actually declaring they'd rather keep doing what we did last season – i.e. qualifying for the CL through winning the EL, and not through finishing in the top four – I'm at a loss. I can only think they don't actually understand the nature of the tournament, or that they're simply ignoring the latter.

It's a trophy you can only compete for if you've fecked up (again, from a United perspective – or what I would hope is still a United perspective). It isn't comparable to playing for the old incarnations: If nothing had changed, the biggest clubs in Europe (bar Bayern and PSG, who seem to win the league per default at the moment) would be competing regularly in the “second” UEFA tournament. But that isn't the case now, is it?

And that is the last word from me on the feckin' Europa League.

Sorry about that, but I had to get it out of my system.

Meanwhile, Dier - eh?
 
Chesterlestreet said:
You don't end up competing for the EL unless you do one of the following (from a United perspective): 1) Fail to finish in the top four the previous season. 2) Fail to proceed to the knockout stage of the CL in the present season.

This is pretty obvious, I should think.

Now, can you see how some fans do not consider the EL (which is very different in this regard compared to both the old UEFA Cup and the old CWC) a particularly prestigious trophy? And can you see why some fans might prefer to – simply – finish in the top four rather than winning this not particularly prestigious trophy?

When I see people actually declaring they'd rather keep doing what we did last season – i.e. qualifying for the CL through winning the EL, and not through finishing in the top four – I'm at a loss. I can only think they don't actually understand the nature of the tournament, or that they're simply ignoring the latter.

It's a trophy you can only compete for if you've fecked up (again, from a United perspective – or what I would hope is still a United perspective). It isn't comparable to playing for the old incarnations: If nothing had changed, the biggest clubs in Europe (bar Bayern and PSG, who seem to win the league per default at the moment) would be competing regularly in the “second” UEFA tournament. But that isn't the case now, is it?

And that is the last word from me on the feckin' Europa League.

Sorry about that, but I had to get it out of my system.

Meanwhile, Dier - eh?
Click to expand...


Fair enough....I still got a huge buzz from winning it though!

Dier?....bloody hell.......
 
I would be underwhelmed and a little embarrassed if we got him and 50m was the price, he's worth about half that.
 
Daily Mail suggesting Spurs want Smalling as part of a deal for Dier.
 
^ You are the top poster in here by a distance.

3 of the top 5 are Spurs fans.
 
balaks said:
40 pages about a transfer that is very unlikely to actually happen.
Click to expand...
Why is it unlikely to happen?
Seems like an entirely underwhelming signing to me, so I'd like to know if I should stop worrying about it happening :p
 
He is just not a midfielder. When the pressure is on, his passing is shocking. He constantly tries to force it and you get instances like the France game. He's also been moved back to the back 3 as soon as wanyama came in, why are we using the season before when he played as a DM as a yardstick? Anyway, like @balaks said, very unlikely this will happen anyway.
 
He's been a vital part of the strongest defense in the league for two seasons running and is still only 23 years old. Played the most games of any Spurs player last season, and can play multiple roles. I feel he is underrated on here, and his passing is far from poor and got a good long shot on him. Tidy and intelligent.

I completely understand that many reluctant to spend as much as it would probably take to get Levy to consider it, but some of the comments on here are far underrating him imo. In any case, I don't want to see him leave, and I think Pochettino feels the same way.

 
Dier is mediocrity defined.

I will totally change my view on Mourinho if this happens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.