Dier: “I’ve been happy with my performances and I’m excited for more”

We’ve seen a number of different versions of Eric Dier over the last eight years.

From the 20-year-old utility player signed from Sporting Lisbon who ghosted in from his makeshift right-back role to score on his debut at West Ham in 2014 to the revelation of a holding midfielder in 2015/16, to the redeployed centre-half who had to compete for his place in the team in the late-2010s, all the way through to the experienced and reliable presence in the heart of Antonio Conte’s back three that we see today, the 28-year-old’s journey with us so far has seen him constantly strive to reinvent himself in order to adapt and improve.

But the current incarnation – version 4.0 you might say – is arguably the most well-rounded of all. Now up to 318 competitive appearances for us and one of our longest-serving current players, Eric produced a string of consistent performances in the centre of our defensive line last term as Antonio led us back into the Champions League.

By his own admission, he’s not the finished article yet – he underlined how he’s still learning from our Italian Head Coach – but his displays over the last year have nevertheless been a source of pride for Eric and led to a genuine sense of excitement at what’s to come.

“I was pleased with last season – it’s always difficult to judge yourself, it’s better for other people to do that for you, but I feel like I maintained a good level of consistency over the course of the season, I was happy with my performances and I’m excited for more,” he said.

“I’ve been really enjoying learning this system under this manager. I think everyone knows he’s the master of this system so it’s been a real education for me and one I’ve really liked. I think there’s so much for him still to teach me as well.

“You can never foresee the way things are going to go in football but going back to those early days I had here, it’s something that I spoke about a lot – we always saw that I would eventually be transitioned into playing in defence, a back three or a back four. Nowadays, of course, I’m happy to be playing there, getting better and better and as I said, I think I still have a lot of room before I hit my ceiling.”

A deep thinker and an intelligent man on and off the pitch, Eric has naturally become more of a leader as he’s grown and developed during his time here – something he hopes he can use to aid the next generation of players coming through.

“To be here eight years now is something I’m very proud of,” he smiled. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far and obviously Tottenham holds a special place in my heart, but there’s a few of us who have been here a long time now – me, Hugo, Harry, Ben – so in a way it’s a strange feeling to have enjoyed it over such a long period.

“Obviously the team has changed a lot in that time, lots of new players, but it’s always enjoyable to play with new players as well, and to see young players coming through and to try to help them develop and improve. I think we have a lot of very good young players at the moment and I’m enjoying the responsibility of trying to help them, like other players did for me in the past. You can give them so much advice because obviously you’ve gone through everything that they are going through – it doesn’t really matter if it’s on the pitch or off the pitch, you can help them in many different ways. Then obviously the most important thing is to carry yourself in the right way in order to set a good example for them to follow.”