Eric Dier: “My ambition? To be better than last season”
Wed 03 August 2022, 12:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Eric Dier’s message is to stay humble as we prepare for the big kick-off against Southampton on Saturday - as he focusses on improving his game for the better collectively and individually.
The defender was as good as ever last season, a season that saw us secure fourth place in the Premier League and a return to the UEFA Champions League. Playing a key role in the centre of Antonio Conte’s back three, Eric started 35 of our 38 league games as we won 10 of our last 14, conceding just nine goals and keeping eight clean sheets in that crucial spell, shutting out Arsenal, Burnley and Norwich in the decisive last three matches.
Now 28, Eric is preparing for his ninth season as a Spur having joined us back in 2014, during which time he’s racked up 319 appearances in all competitions.
“My ambition is to be better than last season, it’s a simple as that, really, to improve, keep getting better individually and help the team improve and get better collectively,” said Eric, capped 45 times by England. “That’s my objective and if I accomplish those things, everything else will be better for me individually and better for us collectively.
“There is definitely a different feeling (going into the season) to one I’ve experienced before here because of the amount of signings before pre-season and experiencing being in a group with such a strong squad already, a squad that feels built already, so there’s that aspect, and then the way we ended last season, the last two, three months... it was a shame the season ended really, we were starting to get on a roll.
“As I said, it’s about picking up where we left off and not getting ahead of ourselves. I think we can be excited, but we have to be extremely humble and keep working to try to get better.”
