Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas heavily criticised Eric Dier’s defending in Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Manchester United, claiming Marcus Rashford showed the defender ‘no respect’. United led 2-0 at half-time, with Jadon Sancho breaking the deadlock after seven minutes and Rashford lashing home his 29th goal of the season at the end of the first-half. Spurs went on to stage a superb comeback in the second-half, with Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min on the score sheet to rescue a point for the hosts.
Ferdinand believes Dier made life too easy for the United forward, saying: ‘At no point did Eric Dier make Rashford think, ‘I’ve got something to think about here, I have got to do something unique or different to get by you’. It was very easy. Rashford showed him no respect and was ruthless.’ Jenas was similarly baffled by Dier’s attempts to deal with United’s attack in the first-half, believing the Tottenham defender was concerned over his lack of pace. He said: ‘You have to get your hand on him, push him in the direction he was going. His obsession, to constantly back off, I can only put it down to in the back of his mind, a lack of pace and he’s panicking. You have got to make life difficult for him.’