ERIC: IT HAS BEEN DIER... ...but we’re back under Conte
ERIC DIER is upset at the way Tottenham’s standards have slipped.
Now the Spurs and England defensive midfielder reckons it’s high time everyone started walking the walk again instead of talking the talk.
It was only two years ago Spurs were Champions League finalists, but they failed to bounce back from that defeat by Liverpool under Mauricio Pochettino in 2019.
Jose Mourinho came in and soon had them riding high at the top of the table. But their form took a nosedive early in 2020, consistency never returned and Mourinho was axed around 14 months later.
Chairman Daniel Levy then turned to Nuno Espirito Santo, who proved disastrous and Antonio Conte was brought in at the start of last month to pick up the pieces.
Dier said: “We’ve had a couple of years that have definitely been below the standards that were set previously in my time here, which has been really disappointing.
“So it’s about trying to get back to that place and I definitely get the sense that, under this manager, we can. It takes time and it’s not something that happens overnight.
“But we really need to build ourselves back up to those standards and kinds of performances and results, and to be more competitive in every competition.
“So I’m really excited about where we’re going and now it’s not so much about doing so much of this – talking – it’s about performing.”
Conte made no secret of his upset at the defeat by Slovenian minnows NS Mura in the Europa Conference League 10 days ago, and Dier was desperate to get back out there against Burnley last weekend to put that result to bed.
Heavy snowfall in the North West made the Turf Moor pitch unplayable, however, and they had to wait until Thursday’s clash with Brentford for the opportunity, which they took with a 2-0 win.
Dier added: “The sooner you play after a loss, the opportunity to turn things around, you want that.
“You want to play the day after, but the other side of things was that we got the chance to work well in training and that’s great to take advantage of any time we get to work together.”
Today, Spurs host Norwich and Conte wants his men to build on the Brentford result and start the climb back up towards the top four.
Dier said: “The message from the manager is very simple – we need to work very hard and improve as quickly as possible as a team to put ourselves in a much better position.
“A position that, if we believe we should be in, we need to show it every day in training and take that into games.
“There’s huge room for improvement – and we need to fill that room as
quickly as possible.”