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Eric Dier: Sam Allardyce makes BIZARRE claim about Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets
TOTTENHAM midfielder Eric Dier is on par with Barcelona's Sergio Busquets, who must stop getting praise from pundits, reckons former England boss Sam Allardyce.
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Dier was one of the Three Lion's best players in Seville as England beat Spain 3-2 in the UEFA Nations League.
The midfielder was out of favour at this summer's World Cup despite scoring the winning penalty against Colombia.
Since then he has forced his way into Gareth Southgate's selection, starting both matches this international break against Spain and Croatia.
Dier particularly caught the eye when he clattered into Sergio Ramos in the first half.
He was booked for the challenge but the incident seemed to give the players belief.
Former England boss Sam Allardyce was impressed by Dier and even claimed that he outshone Sergio Busquets on the night.
"The praise about Busquets must be stopped, it was never evident last night, he looked out of sorts," he told TalkSPORT.
"He's no better or worse than Eric Dier, for me.
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"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 has got the capability of being that."
Busquets has been recognised as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world for many years now.
England led 3-0 at half-time thanks to a Marcus Rashford goal and a brace from Raheem Sterling.
Spain fought back though with goals from Paco Alcacer and Sergio Ramos.
"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," Allardyce added.
"But we laud him as a genius, whereas our own we don't, we criticise. Eric Dier was far better than Busquets last night."