Name: Eric Dier Born: Cheltenham, England Date of birth: 15/01/94 Club: Tottenham Position: Defence/midfield International: Seven U21 England caps Did you know? 1) Dier was born in Cheltenham, but moved to Portugal when he was seven. When he was nine years old a PE teacher at his English-speaking school recommended he go for trials at Sporting who he trained with before eventually joining the club’s academy at 14. Now at a Portuguese-speaking school, he learned to speak the language fluently. His progress since has been rapid and last year former Arsenal captain Tony Adams told talkSPORT Dier was the ideal man to become the Gunners’ midfield screen and protect the defence. It was something they had been missing since Gilberto’s departure, he thought. 2) His grandfather is former FA secretary Ted Croker, who held the position between 1973 and 1989. He died in December 1992, just over a year before Dier was born. 3) Dier is comfortable with the ball at his feet and can play at centre-back, full-back or in a defensive midfield role. He spent time on loan with the Everton reserves in 2011 and at the start of the 2012/13 season, he was playing for Sporting’s B team. 4) He was handed his first team debut against Braga in November 2012 and it was an excellent introduction to the senior game as his cross set up Ricky van Wolfswinkel who scored the winner in a 1-0 victory. His first senior goal came in his second outing with the team in a 2-2 draw at Moreirense. 5) Despite growing up in Portugal, Dier still classes himself as English and made his England U18 debut in a 1-1 draw with Slovakia in November 2011. He has made further appearances for the U19s, U20s and is now part of the U21 squad. Dier was also part of England’s disappointing U20 World Cup team, which crashed out of the group stage in Turkey without winning a game in 2013.
What you trying to do @boo, make a record amount of threads for the same player. lol That makes 4……..pmsl!
I had to merge two…..lol. Can’t remember who opened them tbh mate. Does the welcome thread get closed now mate?
Eric Dier cannot wait to get started in the Premier League after the England Under-21 international returned to England to sign for Tottenham. The 20-year-old centre-back – who can also play as a defensive midfielder – has taken an unusual path so far in his fledgling career, being born in Cheltenham but coming through Sporting Lisbon’s academy in Portugal. However, Dier is now back in his homeland after making a £4million move to Spurs and signing a five-year deal. “I’m really excited to be joining such a big club in the Premier League,†he told Spurs TV. “It’s always been my ambition, my dream, to come back to England and play in the Premier League so I’m really happy to be back. “It’s still the only league that I really watch. Even out in Portugal it’s on the TVs there, it’s the biggest league in the world in my opinion. “Every year I’ve been there I’ve watched all the Premier League games and obviously watched a lot of Tottenham and I’m really happy to be here. “Spurs are a massive club. I’ve known about them since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed the way they play – their attacking football – and I think, coming from Portugal, that suits me. “This season I just want to adapt really quickly to the Premier League and do the best I can, try my hardest and hopefully have a good season.†Explaining his background, Dier added: “When I moved there [to Portugal] it was nothing to do with football, I moved there because of my family when I was six. “I just got picked up by Sporting when I was eight and went through their youth system all the way to the first team. “It’s kind of a strange background, everyone seems surprised by it – an Englishman abroad – but I didn’t go there because of football, it just happened that way. “At the beginning it was hard because I didn’t really speak the language, so that made it a bit tough. I was seen as a bit of an outsider towards the beginning when I was younger. But once you’ve got the language it’s really easy and I literally became like one of them. “I don’t think now they see me as English, they pretty much see me as one of their own really. After I picked up the language when I was 12 or 13 it was really easy – just like being here.†Dier added: “I’ve been in a lot of [England youth] squads with Harry [Kane] and Tom [Carroll] – Harry especially – since I was quite young. “I know them well, they’re really good lads – and Zeki Fryers as well, I’ve been in a squad with him once. That’ll make it easier to settle in.â€
Him, Vertonghen and Vlad at the back rotating duties.. finally a sense of solidity for the defence. Not to mention Davies and potentially Yedlin. Feel more reassured than the last window where we mindlessly added into the midfield when we already had enough talent.
Interesting interview. Sporting wanted to insert a buyout clause of 45m euros. LOL. Tottenham new signing says he’s not happy at all with treatment – Sport Witness
Yeah was generally solid, he did lose possession in some dangerous areas in the first-half, but really improved in the second. One thing that does concern me is that he looks a bit slow on the turn.
He’s cool in the ball ,a good passer and reads the game well,i like he doesn’t jump in unless he has to,the only slight problem I have like vlad when he first came you don’t get time on the ball and sometimes it’s ok to put your foot through it instead of losing the ball because you get punished in this league ,very encouraging performance today but he needs experience beside him
Impressive debut,strong body strength to hold players off,just a couple of cheap giveaway passes.With time we have a winner,winner chicken dinner here.
I was very impressed, cool headed, I would have excused him being a bit gung-ho, wanting to impress his new fans, but he stayed calm and did what he was supposed to do. It’s way too early to say he is going to be a legend but a really good start.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was pleased with the debut of Eric Dier in victory over Schalke. Dier impressed on his debut and the 20-year-old slotted seamlessly into central defence alongside Younes Kaboul. “Eric is still young but he has a lot of potential. He did well, we’re very pleased and now we recover, one day’s rest and we then train hard all week to prepare for West Ham,†Pochettino told the club’s website. “It was our first time in front of our fans at White Hart Lane and it was fantastic. I say thank-you to all of them.â€
Was reasonably impressive for the most part with the exception of about 5 minutes towards the end of the first half where Eric was, dare I say it, dire. But with the exception of that really strange 5 minutes he was quite good.
I can’t quite remember what happened exactly but i just remember watching it at the time (and to be fair, I’d had a few beers), and thinking there was a 5 minute patch where he wasn’t necessarily bad (I just really wanted to get the dire pun in my comment) but wasnt as good as he was for the rest of the game.
Agree that he had a couple shaky moments, but that has to be expected of a young new signing playing in front of the home crowd for the first time. Looks very much like he can contribute right away in a squad capacity.
Looked very assured overall. I was sitting right behind the goal for the first half so I got a really good look at him, aside from two limp 50/50 balls that he lost, he looked solid. He’s certainly ready to play some cup games.
Looked very good, CBs normally peak much later on, so we’re only going to grow more impressed with this guy.
After watching the Schalke 04 friendly on saturday I was impressed with Eric Dier. the first half an hour of the game he seemed to miss place a few of his passes but his confidence seemed to grow after a while and he looked pretty compossed next to the towering Kaboul. My question is can he replace Michael Dawson? I have a lot of time and respect for Michael Dawson, especially for fighting for and winning his place back last season when it seemed he was surplus to requirements. We all now must admit that his speed, not that he ever had much, is no longer up to the pace of the EPL and that is not pleasent to watch and I think by the time the transfer window closes we may have seen the last of him. I will be honest and say I don’t know much about Dier and have only seen him play twice, one being the Schalke friendly. Everything I have read has said we have signed a defender comfortable in possesion with an eye for a pass, tough tackling and 100% commited. Is this guy a future club captain, someone who will put his body on the line as Dawson has since he came to the club? It doesn’t look like he’ll be starting next season apart from maybe some cup games, the rumours of Musacchio’s signing will push him further down the pecking order for now. Lets hope he’s another bright young english prospect Pochettino can turn into an established EPL quality player. C.O.Y.S
He certainly looks like a very solid defender for his age. Personally, I’m not that bothered if we don’t sign another CB, as I think he could fill in for us in the cups and maybe even in the odd PL game. As for being another Dawson, I think even his biggest detractors (i.e. @Rivron) can admit that he is obviously a strong character to have in the dressing room. No way to know if Dier is or not. But he certainly has the tools, and then some, based on the very few times I’ve seen him play. EDIT: LOL- Had a feeling you’d be posting in this one rivron…
If he can defend like Dawson can on his day, then I hope so, I always hope like any fan that our defenders will be up there with the best in the world. The only traint he should never learn of Dawson is the famous 50yard pump up pitch. I have lost count how many times i have shouted at Dawson for attempting a diagonal long ball and its gone straight too the opposition. Then again it is Dier’s first game and only a pre-season, so will reserve judgement until Saturday. I love the thought of Vertonghen-Dier together, but then i don’t want Kaboul or Chiriches frozen out. Will be a headache for Poch, who ever work’s hardest in training should get call up.
I wouldn’t play Dier on Saturday, I think its foolish to give a 20 year old his PL debut in a game like that.
I hadn’t really seen anything of him before Saturday but it was interesting that he played so well as the LCB an area we really don’t have any cover for Vertonghen. I’d read he was a RCB but if we could play him in the cups as a LCB this season while he’s getting settled in that would be great IMO. I wouldn’t envisage him starting many PL games this season but with our injury record at CB I certainly wouldn’t rule it out!
I would hope he is the new Perryman,roberts,king. I am well aware of Dawsons limitations,but his commitment,attitude are beyond reproach.He is spurs to the core.I like the bloke for what he has done for us,within his limitaions. But i hope Dier turns out better in all regards.
