Sam Allardyce has a respectable career as a Premier League manager. He is one of the finest Englishmen to ever coach in the competition, overseeing 541 games with clubs such as Bolton, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Brom and Leeds United.
His pedigree was enough to see him handed the England job in 2016. However, it was a record-breaking stint as he lasted just one game in charge – a 1-0 win over Slovakia – before his 67-day spell came to an end following a newspaper sting alleging he was trying to use his job to negotiate a £400,000 personal deal while also offering advice on how to "get around" rules on player transfers.
Despite his lack of time in the role, it's still interesting to hear Allardyce's opinions on England players from around that era. And just a few years later, in 2018, he controversially claimed one 49-cap England star was on the same level as Sergio Busquets.
Sam Allardyce Was Big Fan of Eric Dier
Felt He Was on Par With Sergio Busquets
Spain's Sergio Busquets in action with England's Eric Dier
Speaking after England’s 3-2 Nations League victory over Spain in 2018, Allardyce was blown away by the efforts of Eric Dier, who started the game in midfield. The Three Lions actually led 3-0 by half-time, and Busquets struggled to have much of an influence on proceedings.
Speaking to TalkSport after the win, the former England boss said that the iconic Barcelona midfielder was poor on the night, but then seemed to suggest he was overrated in general. He claimed that Dier deserved more praise:
“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."
He added: “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."
Speaking specifically about the match, he concluded: "Eric Dier was far better than Busquets last night.”
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Considering Busquets is one of the greatest midfielders of the modern era, winning the World Cup with Spain, not to mention the three Champions League titles, and countless other honours for club and country, it's a surprise Allardyce played down his talent.
On this particular occasion, Dier may have outplayed his midfield opponent, but there is an undeniable gulf between the pair. After all, Dier's only major honour is a Bundesliga title, won with Bayern Munich in 2024/25.
Perhaps Allardyce just got ahead of himself as the Englishman put in a wonderful challenge on Sergio Ramos. Remarking on the foul, he said: “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.”