Jermaine Jenas criticises Eric Dier after early substitution against Olympiacos

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Former Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas feels Eric Dier needs to get himself up to speed already with one eye on the European Championship this summer.

£4 million (BBC) Dier was subbed within half an hour of Tottenham’s 4-2 win over Olympiacos last night, at which point Jose Mourinho’s men were 2-0 down.

And Jenas was critical of how unambitious Tottenham’s passing was in central midfield with both Dier and England team-mate Harry Winks in the engine room.

As per BT Sport, via the Daily Mail, Jenas said: “He’ll be fuming. He needs to get up to speed. He doesn’t want to be going into the Euros not in form. I think when you have Dier and Winks together, they only play five yard passes.”

TBR’s View – Mourinho taking over may put Dier ahead of Winks in international reckoning

After the last international break, it seemed as if Harry Winks had established himself as England’s first choice holding midfielder.

But he seems the opposite of what Jose Mourinho wants from a holding midfielder, while Eric Dier is the epitome of a player the Portuguese values.

That could filter into Gareth Southgate’s thinking if Dier has had more gametime than Winks between now and March, when the next England squad is named, throwing a cat among the pigeons.

He will have to improve his fitness drastically on the evidence of this showing and Saturday’s game against West Ham, where Dier looked so off the pace.