Since leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Bayern Munich in January after nearly a decade of service to the club, Eric Dier has stayed mostly quiet. That’s probably by design — it’s pretty wise to let things settle a bit after moving on from such a significant chapter in one’s career. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been curious as to what Dier has to say about his time at Spurs, not to mention the way things ended.
Now we get a little insight. Dier has a long interview with Henry Winter in the Times of London today where he opens up about his decade at Spurs, the friendships he made along the way, the managers he played under, and his new phase in Munich.
Dier’s a smart and erudite guy, something Spurs fans have known for a while. He speaks eloquently about his experiences and isn’t short of opinions. He even offers a robust defense of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy against fan criticism.
Let’s start there, because that’s both one of the pull-away quotes from his long interview, and also timely considering the fan backlash against the club over its decision to raise ticket prices by 6% next season. Dier obviously is closer to Levy than your average Tottenham fan, but his defense of the chairman is on job performance grounds and not based on character.
“Daniel’s a very strong businessman. He’s an extremely difficult man to negotiate with but he looks after the club. I just find it funny when I went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and see ‘Levy Out’ and I’m thinking, this guy over the last ten years has built the best infrastructure in football, best training ground, best stadium — and a team during all of that time that has stayed relatively competitive, reaching the Champions League final in 2019.
“You look at some other clubs struggling now that Financial Fair Play is becoming a big thing. That’s where I have a lot of respect for Daniel. Look at Arsenal when they built their new stadium, you saw that decline of the team, there were financial constraints as they built, and only now they’re finally coming back.
“You never hear Tottenham in any of these FFP conversations. It’s baffling to me that a Tottenham fan could ever be upset with someone who looks after a club in that way.”
One would imagine this is not the most popular viewpoint with your average punter in north London at the moment, but Dier has never been one to shy away from controversy, or from saying and doing what he thinks is right. Remember the time a few years ago when he charged into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium stands after a cup match to confront a Spurs fan who had been abusing him and his brother? Dier received a hefty fine and a 4 match suspension for doing so, and gave some additional insight about the tribunal during which he was asked, and refused, to apologize.
“I was extremely disappointed with the way the process was handled. I went to a hearing and it was a really strange experience. They start talking on behalf of the fan, saying the fan was fearing for his safety. But the fan wasn’t in this room. I said, ‘You’re speaking on his behalf!’
“I said to them if it happens again I’ll do the same thing. I was getting pressured to apologise and I said you’ve got more chance of me retiring than apologising. Gareth [Southgate] wrote a really nice letter for me, which I’m extremely grateful for. Mourinho stood up for me. I had a very clear reputation as a player and for them to come to that conclusion was disappointing.”
Dier has warm memories about his near-decade at Spurs, and the incredible teammates he had. He singles out Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen as role models, not only for what they did on the pitch but how they modeled behavior and mentored him when he was still a young player finding his feet in the Premier League.
“Jan and Mousa — I get emotional talking about these guys. They mean a lot to me, those people. I was so, so, so lucky that when I went to Tottenham they were there. I was a young kid and suddenly I was making a lot of money and playing in the Premier League, playing for England, and Jan and Mousa guided me.
“They taught me accountability. They saw me acting up in some way and said, ‘What are you doing?’ Of course I did stupid things. Every 20-year-old if they start making loads of money is going do stupid things.
“I couldn’t have asked for two better people to watch how they live their lives, how they spend their money.”
It became clear pretty early on after Ange Postecoglou was appointed as head coach that Dier was not a good fit for the Aussie’s tactics. Dier spent a lot of time on the bench in the first half of this season, only starting matches due to the remarkable injury crisis that saw both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven out of the side due to injury and suspension. Despite that and his departure in January, Dier doesn’t appear to hold any grudges or resentment towards Big Ange, but it’s clear that coming to terms with his new status at the club was difficult to adjust to.
“I’ve been extremely lucky to work with [Mauricio] Pochettino, [José] Mourinho, Conte, [Ange] Postecoglou and now [Thomas] Tuchel. Those five are in the top ten managers in the world.
“I absolutely loved working with Postecoglou for six months. I learned so much. If I were to be a manager, of all the managers that I worked with, I feel that my style will probably be most similar to Postecoglou’s. It’s just the feeling wasn’t mutual in terms of playing!
“[Staying confident about a loan] what I’m most proud [of] about myself. In November I never thought I’d be sitting in this position. In that six months at Tottenham, I trained hard every day, stayed fit. But you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It looks completely dark. Just to have that blind faith and just stay fit, stay healthy, stay professional — that’s what I’m most proud about.”
It’s rare when a player who has been at the club as long as Dier leaves and there appears to be something of a sigh of relief from supporters, but that’s more or less what happened with Eric’s departure to Bayern Munich. Dier’s role in the team had diminished, his performances seemed out of kilter from his teammates (something that likely had as much to do with tactics as his own ability), and rightly or wrongly fan opinion of him shifted. When the transfer finally happened, it was met with more of a collective and polite nod — an acknowledgement of his service to the club, but also an admittance that it was time to move on.
To his credit, Dier appears to understand.
“I wouldn’t say the perception of me is positive [in England]. But I don’t feel sorry for myself in the slightest. I know what I’ve done. I know what I haven’t done. No one’s more critical of me than myself.
“It is funny how, abroad, I do tend to receive that appreciation more than at home. I really feel, here in Germany, the club’s appreciation for me.”