Our legendary former captain likes the way Dias takes responsibility for organising a back four which has conceded just once in seven games.
The 23-year-old had the misfortune of ending our club record run of six consecutive clean sheets in the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion, as he deflected Semi Ajayi’s strike past Ederson, but Morrison believes he has made a fine start to life in a City shirt.
The Connah’s Quay Nomads manager has been particularly impressed with how Dias communicates with his team-mates and says he sees similarities with another fabled former captain.
“I think he has brought a steeliness, pace, communication is huge,” said Morrison, as he made his debut on our We’re Not Really Here matchday show at the West Brom game.
“That’s what Vinnie [Kompany] was at his best. You need to be alive and communicating and that’s so key.
“You can stop a counter-attack so quickly through that and that’s what Vinnie was, and from what I’ve seen of Dias, he has a voice and I like that about him.”
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Communicating was something that came easy to Morrison, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential captains in City’s history.
“We signed him for his personality and to be the captain, as much as we signed him for the player,” said Joe Royle of the man he described as the catalyst for City’s promotion from Division Two in 1999.
Being vocal was a huge part of Morrison’s game.
It’s an attribute he feels has waned in the modern game, but in Dias, he says City have signed a defender who has all the tools to succeed.
“It’s a natural quality that is missing a lot in football,” he added.
“The information you’re shouting is the key, just telling someone to move a few yards. It’s a gift that you need as a centre-half.
“He’s also got a football brain. He sees everything and he will have got that from playing a lot of football during his younger years and it really is refreshing to see.”
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