The Tottenham midfielder showed during a Nations League clash with Spain that he is capable of competing with the very best in the business
Barcelona star Sergio Busquets is “no better” than Tottenham’s Eric Dier, claims Sam Allardyce, with the Spurs midfielder starring in England’s 3-2 victory over Spain.
Gareth Southgate’s team were expected to face another tough evening trying to contain the World Cup-winning playmaker when they headed to Seville on Monday.
Busquets was, however, to have little impact on proceedings, with a flying start by the Three Lions allowing them to open up a three-goal advantage by half-time .
Dier was among those to set the tone , as he flew into challenges and worked hard to break up Spain’s passing game, with Allardyce suggesting that he looked very much at home in illustrious company.
The former England boss told talkSPORT : “The praise about Busquets must be stopped, it was never evident last night, he looked out of sorts.
“He’s no better or worse then Eric Dier, for me.
“Busquets is a sitting midfield player who breaks up play, intercepts, passes it very quickly and is intelligent. That’s what he is. He’s not much more than that, but he gets a lot of praise for it.
“Whereas Eric Dier does a similar job, but sometimes gets loads of criticism for it.
“He [Dier] has got the capability of being that.
“Busquets has been a great player for Spain and Barcelona, don’t get me wrong. He’s a very effective player and is the first pick for every manager because he plays such a simple game.
“But we laud him as a genius, whereas our own we don’t, we criticise. Eric Dier was far better than Busquets last night.”
Dier certainly left nothing on the field as he dug deep for the good of the England cause, with there just 12 minutes on the clock when he crashed into a crunching challenge on Spain skipper Sergio Ramos.
He was booked for a full-blooded tackle which saw him take both ball and man, but Allardyce feels it was important for somebody to lay down an early marker and get Southgate’s side going.
He added: “I loved it! A tackle like that can set the tone.
“As a manager, you look at who is going to get the fans on the edge of the seats. People will say that you can’t think of something like that to do it, but when you watch a game of football and you see that level of commitment, you saw the cheer it brings from the fans.
“It says, ‘we’re going to get stuck in tonight, we’re going to make an impression on Spain in all aspects of the game to win it’.
“That got a big cheer from the fans in the stadium and probably all the fans in England and certainly set the tone for the match.”
ssure
240
How can you even put Busquets and Dier in the same sentence?
Halehale
211
Haha that's why Big Sam has never really managed a big club and holds the record for one game England manager...sit down Sam and pour yourself a pint of wine...
Henryrukis
196
I don't know what is wrong with the big Sam. either you like it or not, busquet is the best when it comes to his role. he has been playing for almost a decade and he has always been on top of the game .tell Me when dier started his football. comparing busquet to dier because of one friendly game Is like comparing modric to Ronaldo Or the goat because of his award. or salah to Messi and Kane to Ronaldo.
moonlights
154
Good luck to whoever Big Sam manages next
keaiae
139
lol...Busquests has an off day then the entire English press begins to compare him with mediocre players.
AA-12
119
FIFA joke of the year nomminees
annerevol
109
seriously??? we have already heard a lot of jokes this year especially from FIFA.... can't hear morenpls stop
opposite
104
Even Eric Dier would tell you that is an outrageous statement.