Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Spending £300m to fix a big team that is playing badly is just an excuse... and crazy
SAYS SPURS STAR ERIC DIER
ERIC DIER says multi-million pound spending sprees are being used as ‘crazy’ cop-outs by Tottenham’s title rivals.
The England and Spurs midfielder believes familiarity has bred success in the navy blue and white half of north London – but doesn’t see the same everywhere else.
Last week’s stunning 3-0 victory at Old Trafford has been the highlight of a blemish-free opening to Spurs’ campaign.
Dier is convinced that his side’s sparkling start is a product of a settled squad, after the club refused to take the easy option and splash the cash.
Dier said: “When big teams are doing badly, people say they need to spend £200million to £300m – that’s crazy.
“They are looking at the wrong things if they think they need to spend that sort of money to change. It’s actually down to working with the players you’ve got, getting the best out of them – and building something.
“The culture you create at the training ground, the relationship between players, the atmosphere... there’s 50 different factors.
“I understand that one factor is to sign players, and I understand too there is always something better out there.
“But people use it as an excuse. It’s easy to say: ‘We’ll just spend £100m and everything will be fine’. “If you think just spending money will resolve things, you’re way off the mark.”
Spurs have always been the bridesmaids during boss Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge. That last hurdle – whether it be in the Premier League or FA Cup – has proved impossible to overcome.
But Dier, still just 24, remains convinced that missing out will make success all the sweeter.
He said: “In order to succeed you have to suffer – suffering is good. We’ve been through difficult periods in the past three seasons, and difficult periods will happen this time, too.
“But we’ve definitely matured. We’re not so young any more. We’ve experienced a lot together. Being together for such a long time, everything is ingrained in us now. We are focused on winning, and we know now how to get through any suffering.
“It’s a matter of it just being down to us, what we do and how we approach every game, every day here at the training ground.
“If we do all those things right – and we’re in the right space mentally – then anything is possible.” Interestingly, the mental focus on starting the season well has been discussed in Spurs’ dressing room.
Victory today over Watford – who are themselves enjoying a 100 per cent start to the campaign – will ramp up expectations further.
Dier added: “It’s been something we have spoken about a lot in the last couple of weeks – how we felt we have always had slow starts.
“That’s happened in each of the last three seasons and I’ve always felt it has hindered us a bit. You are constantly playing catch-up.
“We’ve always had v e r y strong periods around Christmas and going into February and March, so we wanted to change that and so far we have.
“But it’s still so early, and it will be another tough game against Watford.
“But we are aiming to go into the international break in the best possible shape.”