Dier truth for Eric is to learn to be a winner
It has been a case of close but no cigar for Eric Dier in the last few years. With Tottenham at club level and for England on the world stage, Dier has been part of teams that have won plenty of plaudits, but no prizes. There was Spurs’ best league result for more than half-a-century when they finished runners-up to Chelsea in the Premier League in 2017. He also helped England reach a World Cup semifinal for the first time in 28 years this summer. But Dier knows that the biggest leap of all remains as he attempts to become a serial winner. That comes into effect as Tottenham begin a new Champions League campaign away to Inter Milan on Tuesday. Last season, there were famous group wins over Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, but it went wrong in three minutes in the last-16 as they were knocked out by Juventus. It was another reminder for Dier of how quickly lots of hard work can be undone. And it was a similar story in the World Cup semi-final. The Spurs man came on in extra-time with the score at 1-1, but the momentum had shifted to Croatia as they completed a 2-1 victory. So Dier is trying to use these frustrating losses to fuel his efforts for club and country. “Becoming winners is the hardest step,” he says. “That is what we are striving to do. “In both cases, I feel like we are in a very good place and are getting closer and closer. It’s a question of making those final few steps. “We can’t settle now for what we have. We need to keep pushing, keep working hard and trying to improve like we have been doing. “And also to keep believing in ourselves. We must not stop at this point and get demoralised. It’s now time to push on.” Tuesday’s meeting at the San Siro will be an England-Croatia reunion from the Moscow semi. Spurs contain five members of the Three Lions squad, as opposed to three Croats, including goalscorer Ivan Perisic. But Dier is keen to play down any talk of revenge. “That won’t be in my mind at all,” he states. “When I play that game, I want to beat Inter Milan, not Ivan Perisic. “It’s a completely different game, and a different competition. “It’s a big game but we have coped with that before. We played away at Real Madrid, Juventus and Dortmund last season. These are all amazing stadiums with very difficult atmospheres. “We go to Old Trafford and Anfield every year, so we are well prepared. We believe we belong at this level and we think we have shown it.”