‘We want to provide the platform to win games’ - Dier
Mon 09 November 2020, 16:57|
Tottenham Hotspur
We’ve blazed a trail in front of goal this season - 38 goals in 15 matches so far - and Eric Dier is well aware that a clean sheet could well mean victory, as it did again at West Brom on Sunday.
Dier impressed again as our defensive unit kept West Brom at bay to set up our late 1-0 win at The Hawthorns. It was the same story a fortnight ago at Burnley, and it’s worth noting no team has conceded fewer than our nine goals in eight Premier League games so far.
Take into account a few unlucky goals - penalties for handball against Southampton and Newcastle, Davinson Sanchez’s own goal against West Ham, even Brighton’s last week, when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg appeared to be fouled in the build up - and it might have been better.
“We’re really happy to keep another clean sheet,” said Eric, who racked up 250 appearances for us on Sunday. “We’ve been really unlucky to concede goals that I don’t believe are defensive mistakes, but just unfortunate, like the foul on Pierre last week, so to get a clean sheet, we’re really happy with that, and Harry’s come up with the goal at the end after a fantastic ball from Matt.
“As a defensive unit, we want to give the team the platform to go on and win games. As I said, we’ve been disappointed with a lot of the goals we’ve conceded because they’ve been under unfortunate circumstances a lot of them and, going forward, I always believe we’re going to score goals, so yes, a clean sheet is massive.”
I always believe we’re going to score goals, so yes, a clean sheet is massive for us
Although we always felt in control, we stepped on the gas in the second half and although Harry’s goal arrived late, 88 minutes, we’d been knocking on the door with 17 attempts after the break.
“We were a bit disappointed with the first half, I don’t think we pressed them enough or caused them enough problems,” reflected Eric, who is now on international duty with England.
“We had a lot more control of the game in the second half. We kept the ball better, played more in their half, regained possession when we lost it, and had lots of opportunities and efforts on goal.
“It’s a great feeling going into the international break, and that’s really important. You don’t want to have two weeks dwelling on a result you didn’t want, so really happy with where we are but, at the same time, lots and lots of work still to do.”
