Eric Dier, whatever one may think of him personally, has rapidly become one of football’s forgotten men.
Yes, there was a time when he was a Tottenham Hotspur regular in the starting XI and prior to that, equally, there was a time when Eric Jeremy Edgar Dier used to make regular appearances for England, but fortunes often change. Dier’s most recent England involvements consist of 2 appearances in the UEFA Nations League in 2022/2023, and prior to that, he was used twice as a substitute in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
This summer has been about overcoming injury with a knock side-lining him for a fortnight in May, only for a groin/pelvis Injury to then wipe him out for a further month.
Appearances last season drew criticism from fans on social media. Nevertheless, the Englishman has told The Sun he’s ready to go again.
“If I look at two of my great friends in Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele, for me they had their best years in their early 30s when I was with them at Tottenham.
“I know my best years are coming, I’m excited for that.
“I’m really enjoying working under the manager. Obviously it’s a very different style of play but that’s enjoyable physically and mentally to learn a different style of football.
“I’ve been extremely lucky to work with (Mauricio) Pochettino, (Jose) Mourinho, (Antonio) Conte and now Ange. Every single one of them, their style is different. The way they train is different, tactically they’re different.
What concerns me with Dier is that he does not only believe he’s in the same bracket as both Vertonghen and Dembélé, which is debatable given that you’d be hard-pushed to find anyone who wanted either of these fine players to ever retire, but he appears not to have grasped that the tactical styles of Mourinho and Conte are essentially indistinguishable from each other. Pochettino shunted Dier around during his reign and the now 29-year-old was used in central midfield as well as defence.
The lad from Cheltenham clearly feels he has more to offer, but his social media feeds have been brutal for some considerable time. Perhaps, sharing where he wants to be as a player is currently ambitious, and it might make more sense to demonstrate to fans this ‘reborn’ self.
For my money, I’d like to see Dier leave Tottenham where things have become soured, and start afresh somewhere else. Fulham have apparently shown an interest. Or maybe he could hook up with his pal Dele Alli at Everton.
Spurs need to continue to buy new defenders and with Micky van de Ven recently and Destiny Udogie having been installed, the case for Dier even being required has to be fading.
