Tottenham boss Antonio Conte says he has no worries about Eric Dier's ability as a centre-back but has suggested he would have no problem about giving him a rest after recent mistakes.
The England defender made great strides under Conte last season in a consistent campaign and began this term well. However, with Spurs' rush of pre-World Cup games in a short amount of time so the overplayed Dier began to make mistakes and lost that consistency within a struggling backline.
He returned to action for Tottenham in the 2-2 draw at Brentford on Boxing Day and failed to impress again, including one wild sliced clearance that handed the hosts the corner Ivan Toney scored their second goal from.
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When asked about Dier's form as part of a defence that has conceded the first goal in nine consecutive matches in all competitions in recent months, Conte harked back to his own time as a player.
"I was a player, I know there are many reasons when you are struggling with something. You are not 100 per cent physically, or mentally," he said. "You are a bit tired, but this is normal, especially if you want to play at a high level.
"Honestly I’m not worried because I know Eric’s capacity and what Eric can do with us. It can be that you have a period where you have to recover mental or physical energy but I am not worried. I have the other defenders that also give me the possibility to make rotations. If I see situations where I need to make rotations."
Another World Cup player set to return this weekend with the visit of Aston Villa to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is Spurs goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman came within a penalty shoot-out defeat of captaining his country to back-to-back World Cup triumphs as they lost in the final to Argentina this month.
Conte believes Lloris, who turned 36 on Boxing Day, could carry on to play for many years to come at the top level.
"I think we lose time if we talk about Hugo because his career speaks for itself. We are talking about one of the best keepers in the world in the past ten years," he said. "I can tell you only this and I repeat that we will lose time when we speak about Hugo because we are talking about a top keeper and a top man, especially. I think he will play, will continue to play for many years."
Conte was asked to compare the extrovert Emiliano Martinez, who won the World Cup with Argentina, and the more understated Lloris as the two goalkeepers come up against each other this weekend.
"I have to be honest, I don’t like to speak about players from other teams. I don’t like to do it because you have to respect them, we are not talking about my player and I can only give you an evaluation on a technical aspect. Then, for me, the topic finishes there," he said.
"Martinez in this moment, first of all, he won the World Cup and he was a protagonist in winning the most important trophy in the world. Then, for sure, he has a long career, to show and to be the best and one of the best keepers in the world. But, I repeat, like Cuti (Romero) now starts the difficult situation.
“Now, you are high but you have to stay high and possibly to improve and show that it was a one-off situation. Important players after a win, they build an important career and starting with this win, then to win, win and improve their level."
He added: "I can give you an opinion about the quality of the players and we are talking about two important goalkeepers. Martinez is younger than Hugo. He played a really good World Cup. He made important saves. Don’t forget in the final in the 119th minute he made a fantastic save, otherwise we are talking about a France World Cup instead of Argentina. He’s a player who can continue to grow but you’re talking about a really good goalkeeper.
"About Hugo, we’re talking about a champion in his role. His career speaks very clear. He won the World Cup but he was always a protagonist with his national team. For Tottenham, I don’t know how many years he’s played for Tottenham, but he’s a guarantee for us. On Sunday my expectation is to see both players play the game."
Conte admitted that he asked Lloris to come back early to Tottenham after his World Cup disappointment so that he could show his importance to the club even if he did not play against Brentford.
"For sure when you lose a final of the World Cup, your feeling is not so good, but about Hugo, it was really good for him to put the disappointment to one side and then to come back in a fantastic way," said the Spurs head coach. "I see him totally involved from the first day with us. I asked him to come back early, to stay with us for the game against Brentford.
"He was on the bench but his figure is very important for the dressing room for the whole Tottenham environment. Now he’s ready. He had three good training sessions with our goalkeeper coach. Now he’s ready."
Conte also gave his thoughts on the top four race and what he believes was an underrated achievement by Spurs in making it into the Champions League spots last season.
"For sure I think to finish in the top four was a really big achievement for us. I think many, many people undervalued this achievement but I can tell you that it was a massive achievement for us," said the Italian. "In England it is not simple. You are seeing it this season. This season will be really, really difficult for many clubs. For all the clubs to finish top four, to finish in the Europe zone.
"For this reason I can tell you it was a really big achievement. Now arrives the difficulty for us. In this moment United, Chelsea and Liverpool are not in the top four. You are finding other teams. Arsenal are showing to be a really strong team. Don’t forget Arsenal last season with three games to go, they had four points more than us.
"In the final rush, we were good to overcome them. Now I think they are showing to be really, really strong. Then there is City and Newcastle is another club that is growing year by year to become a title contender, a real danger for the Premier League title.
"For top four, (there are) other clubs also like Aston Villa. I think it will be very, very difficult for this reason. We have to know this. I’m trying to push my players to understand that this season will much more difficult than last season. That we have to try to continue to improve, to push ourselves. I see a lot of competition in every level and for this reason we have to be ready and to be strong because for sure we have to fight a lot."
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