What's new

Dier had a "friendly" conversation with Jose

Dharmabum

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2003
8,274
12,242
Since the the Player watch: Eric Dier thread is closed for replies apparently I have to post this in an separate thread...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...uricio-Pochettino-Eric-Dier-disagreement.html

Dier talking to Man United chief Jose Mourinho... and that he and his utility player disagree over his best position
  • Mauricio Pochettino was worried when he saw Eric Dier talking to Jose Mourinho
  • Dier and Mourinho conversed in Portuguese at Old Trafford in December 2016
  • Pochettino and Dier spent four hours clearing the air the very next day
By Mauricio Pochettino For The Mail On Sunday

PUBLISHED: 17:30 EDT, 21 October 2017 | UPDATED: 20:01 EDT, 21 October 2017


Last season Mauricio Pochettino fretted over Eric Dier's form. Then he discovered he had been approached by Manchester United.

And he was further incensed by Dier and Jose Mourinho chatting and laughing after a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

Pochettino explains how he felt he refocused Dier on Tottenham...


I've told Eric he has what it takes to be the best English centre back but he has to be convinced of that himself. We've put the conditions in place for him to improve. But he broke into the national team thanks to his displays in the [midfield] holding role and ended up scoring a couple of big goals.

After we signed [Victor] Wanyama [in summer, 2016], Eric, who now sees himself as a midfielder, felt that we had treated him badly because Wanyama's arrival would halt his development. His performances have started to suffer this season. We've spoken a lot recently but I've felt he hasn't been telling me everything. Later on, I once again tried to understand why he couldn't shake off the shackles and I offered to help him with whatever it was.

Nothing. Then I found out that United have made an approach and the player is being destabilised. His people have been putting pressure on him, although United are not promising anything.

Mourinho and I had finished our interviews at Old Trafford [after the 1-0 defeat by Manchester United, December 2016] and the players were doing their warm-down on the pitch. When Jose was done with the press, he stood by the entrance to the tunnel and regarded the returning players.


He greeted Moussa Sissoko and hugged Dier. They passed by me en route to the dressing rooms, laughing, speaking in Portuguese. Maybe it is a common Mourinho tactic, but he put Eric in a compromising position. You cannot do that after a defeat.

'Are you friends with Mourinho?' I asked him. 'No, but I've known him a long time, from my time in Portugal... one of his godsons coached me. He always says hello.'

I sat down with Eric after lunch on Monday and we chatted for four hours about the whole shebang: his agent, family, confusion.

As for the Mourinho incident, 'What could I have done?' Eric asked me.

He told me about United's interest since last summer [2016] and I explained the situation to him clearly.

'Look, you aren't leaving because you signed a five-year deal with us in August. You're among the highest-paid players at Tottenham at the age of 22. You're important to us and you could become the best centre back in the Premier League.'

Ever since that conversation, Eric admits that he could have waited for Mourinho to be out of sight before heading to the dressing room.


He [Dier] has had a tricky six months. 'You aren't the same Eric as last year, the one from the Euros,' I told him in training earlier in the season. Recently, I spent the week discussing and speaking about what was happening to him.

Every day we looked at different things. For instance, I made a table for him with the headings Good, Very Good, Excellent and Unique. I wrote Maradona, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the fourth one, before asking him where he saw himself.

'Very Good,' he said.

'Yes, that's where you are. It's only a short trip to Excellent.

'Where are you as a defensive midfielder? And as a centre back?' Eric thinks he's further ahead as a midfielder than as a defender. We had a long chat about that because I disagree. In the end, I said to him, 'It doesn't matter. If you give 100 per cent wherever you play, it'll go well.'

Some things footballers have to discover on their own.

As form improves in February, Pochettino notices a difference...

Dier has rediscovered his focus, making good decisions and understanding his limits. We must not forget he has only just reached the top. I recently saw him in the gym doing intense exercise. I went up to him and said: 'Eric is back.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ino-Eric-Dier-disagreement.html#ixzz4wA0DVado
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 

Bobbins

SC's 14th Sexiest Male 2008
May 5, 2005
21,548
45,031
This, plus the other sections on Walker and the trip to Argentina with Levy, are pretty astonishingly honest and eye-opening.

Bit uncomfortable reading them to be honest, they sound like they should be in a post-retirement autobiography.
 

thinktank

Hmmm...
Sep 28, 2004
45,893
68,893
Ridiculous.

I don't think the players need any more signals/warnings from Poch on what's acceptable or not.

Everything has been loud and clear.

All this does is weaken the fabric of trust he has painstakingly woven.

There should be an inner sanctum. Inviolable.

As a manager you don't give out internal shit like this, voluntarily.

It's a bad, bad look. Totally unprofessional and - as has already been mentioned in another thread - carries a strong smell of egotism.

We love you Poch, but you're not Ferguson...yet.

Run shit, win shit and then recline on your achievements in retirement and write your autobiography filled with man-management master-strokes and hairdryer anecdotes, THEN.

This has pissed me right off.

I expect to hear this shit in coded snippets from itks who have snatched a glimpse, NOT by the fucking manager.

I don't want our club's business out there for the press to fang-feast on and I'm sure the players don't either.

You can't rage at Rose and be airing dirty laundry to the world at the same time.

If Levy ok'd this, he's an idiot. If he didn't he needs to have a strong word with Poch about PR.

Don't want to be reading our business in the fucking papers like this - whether from book excerpts or whatever.

A concerning trend developing with Poch - after we get an important result in a game something to sully it soon follows.

For someone who wants to emulate Ferguson, this is more the way of Redknapp.

Cut it out.
 
Last edited:

rupsmith

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2006
1,714
2,328
Ridiculous.

I don't think the players need any more signals/warnings from Poch on what's acceptable or not.

Everything has been loud and clear.

All this does is weaken the fabric of trust he has painstakingly woven.

There should be an inner sanctum. Inviolable.

As a manager you don't give out internal shit like this, voluntarily.

It's a bad, bad look. Totally unprofessional and - as has already been mentioned in another thread - carries a strong smell of egotism.

You love you Poch, but you're not Ferguson...yet.

Run shit, win shit and then recline on your achievements in retirement and write your autobiography filled with man-management master-strokes and hairdryer anecdotes, THEN.

This has pissed me right off.

I expect to hear this shit in coded snippets from itks who have snatched a glimpse, NOT by the fucking manager.

I don't want our club's business out there for the press to fang-feast on and I'm sure the players don't either.

You can't rage at Rose and be airing dirty laundry to the world at the same time.

If Levy ok'd this, he's an idiot. If he didn't he needs to have a strong word with Poch about PR.

Don't want to be reading our business in the fucking papers like this - whether from book excerpts or whatever.

A concerning trend developing with Poch - after we get an important result in a game something to sully it soon follows.

For someone who wants to emulate Ferguson, this is more the way of Redknapp.

Cut it out.

Surprising this one - Poch really said all this? Apart from the odd line or joke it's usually pretty sterile stuff in press conferences - pre and post game. very surprising that this was approved.
 

Danny Boy

Ninja Master
Aug 31, 2012
50
184
Surprising this one - Poch really said all this? Apart from the odd line or joke it's usually pretty sterile stuff in press conferences - pre and post game. very surprising that this was approved.

Can't stop now, the book is coming out on 26 Oct.
 

piedpiper

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2008
3,758
6,763
I thought we discussing Eric Dier... Maybe that discussion is in the Poch thread.
 

Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
2,864
3,680
Enlightening, why it is released now is odd.

But agree with Poch, Dier is a CB first and foremost
 

Danners9

Available on a Free Transfer
Mar 30, 2004
13,998
20,756
Enlightening, why it is released now is odd.

But agree with Poch, Dier is a CB first and foremost

Balague has a book coming out soon. The info about Walker is from there, and there will be more as it's serialised. I bet the Dier stuff comes from there too, although the article in the Mail says it's from Pochettino himself.
 

Trix

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2004
19,336
329,025
Not sure what to say tbh. I posted all this about Dier and Walker in the Summer so it's not like it's a big shock. Very surprised MP has allowed it go go public though, especially half way through the season. How the fuck do you motivate Dier to give you his all today, when you are going behind his back to a journalist like this?
 

dricha1

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2005
1,311
2,579
United signed Matic they don’t need Dier now, unless they play him as a centre-half, which Dier don’t believes he is.....
 

ardiles

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2006
13,228
40,308
Poch is usually very calculated when making any comments about the club or the players.

We’re playing United next weekend. Is he using this as a challenge to Dier to show where his preferences (us or United) are at?
 

tommyt

SC Supporter
Jul 22, 2005
6,166
10,978
Not sure what to say tbh. I posted all this about Dier and Walker in the Summer so it's not like it's a big shock. Very surprised MP has allowed it go go public though, especially half way through the season. How the fuck do you motivate Dier to give you his all today, when you are going behind his back to a journalist like this?

Edit: I thought this was from the new book, doh.
 

mark87

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2004
36,031
114,061
Not sure what to say tbh. I posted all this about Dier and Walker in the Summer so it's not like it's a big shock. Very surprised MP has allowed it go go public though, especially half way through the season. How the fuck do you motivate Dier to give you his all today, when you are going behind his back to a journalist like this?

Poch could have easily asked Dier if it was ok with him for this to be published.
 

McArchibald

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
1,280
5,579
Not sure what to say tbh. I posted all this about Dier and Walker in the Summer so it's not like it's a big shock. Very surprised MP has allowed it go go public though, especially half way through the season. How the fuck do you motivate Dier to give you his all today, when you are going behind his back to a journalist like this?
Isn't this an excerpt of Ballague's book? That'd mean that it's not timed to do anything as such...
 

Trix

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2004
19,336
329,025
Poch could have easily asked Dier if it was ok with him for this to be published.

Maybe, think it will be interesting now when big Vic is fit. I mean he clearly says there that he doesn't see him as a CM, and with Sanchez settling quickly what happens to Dier?
 
Top