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‘It’s a terrible mistake…but it hasn’t affected his game’: Glenn Hoddle praises Spurs defender Eric Dier for the way he bounced back after his mistake led to Eintracht Frankfurt’s opening goal in the 3-2 Champions League Tottenham win
- Glenn Hoddle praised Spurs player Eric Dier for not letting a mistake rattle him
- Dier lost the ball that led to Eintracht Frankfurt’s opening goal on Wednesday
- But Tottenham bounced back to secure a crucial 3-2 Champions League win
- Hoddle respected the way the 28-year-old defender ‘played his way through’
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Glenn Hoddle praised Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier for not letting a previous mistake ruin his game in their 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 28-year-old lost possession in his own penalty area in the 14th minute and the German side capitalized. It led to Daichi Kamada opening the scoring.
Although the Spurs turned the game around with strong performances on the other side of the pitch from Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, there was always a risk that Dier would be penalized for his mistake – especially as the hosts had to hold on to a late wave of Frankfurt busy.
Dier, however, didn’t let his mistake stop him from playing his game, something Hoddle quickly praised at halftime when the Spurs were leading 3-1.
Eric Dier has been praised for not letting a mistake stop him from playing his usual game
Glenn Hoddle said he liked that Dier’s playing style wasn’t tempered despite the previous mistake
Of the opener, Hoddle said, “It’s a terrible mistake by Dier. [Jesper] Lindstrom has a lot of credit to take. He has pressed the ball, he is on the side.
“It’s the traps they’ve set to Tottenham. Tottenham were sloppy late in the game last week. It’s something they have [Frankfurt] looked, to press hard and press high, and it came out before them.
“It hasn’t affected his game. What I love about Dier is that he was able to play a few risky passes without freezing. He made his way through it.’
Dier played the first 78 minutes of Wednesday’s win before being replaced by Davinson Sanchez.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Son focused on how his side had overcome the adversity of being behind to push them to grab the valuable three points that put them at the top of their Champions League group with two games left.
Heung-min Son said ‘there will always be mistakes’ in football, but they came back
Son said: ‘It’s our home and we don’t want to go down 1-0.
‘[On the opening goal] It’s clearly a big mistake [by Dier]But in football there will always be mistakes. We have to strike back and we did. The game completely changed.
“Before the break, 3-1, a very good performance and good results, but in the second half we need to score more goals to finish the game.”
Son and Dier were both on the bench for the final stages of the game, as Spurs conceded a late goal and Frankfurt had chances to equalize well into stoppage time. Fears of the result were not allayed when Kane also missed a penalty in extra time.
However, the Spurs escaped with the three points intact and qualifies for the last 16 with a two-week win over Sporting Lisbon.