From emergency nail to defense boss: Eric Dier was initially ridiculed and impressively refutes his critics. At t-online he talks about his surprising transformation.
When Eric Dier moved from Tottenham Hotspur to FC Bayern at the beginning of the year, the transfer was laughed at by most experts. A 30-year-old, who seemed to have long since passed his peak and was therefore only used four times for Spurs in the first half of the season, should suddenly be the solution to all of Munich’s defensive problems?
More than the role of an emergency nail, if there really are no other defensive players available and the importance of the game should not be the greatest – it will be enough for that at most, it was said. And by the way, Bayern might do their superstar Harry Kane a little favor by giving his long-time teammate and friend a contract. This is roughly how the Dier deal was prejudged by the vast majority of critics.
Dier’s transformation from emergency situation to defense boss
Almost two and a half months later, all those who underestimated Dier’s potential must now apologize. This also includes some Bayern bosses who initially preferred FC Barcelona in the winter because of Ronald Araújo and a possible 80 million euro transfer.
Because that turned out to be unrealistic, Dier came. An emergency solution that is increasingly proving to be an absolute stroke of luck and a great bargain for the people of Munich. The English international came for free and because he was initially only loaned out until the end of the season, without any further financial risk.
Due to his seven starting eleven appearances, his contract has already been automatically extended until summer 2025. Despite the firm commitment, no further transfer fee is due because Dier’s contract with Tottenham would have expired in the summer anyway. According to reports, there will probably only be bonus payments totaling two to two and a half million euros from the Munich team to the Spurs.
Insurmountable: Dier is astonished by this statistic
Those in charge at the London club are also likely to be rubbing their eyes in amazement at Dier’s development at the moment. Because – because the regular central defender duo of Min-jae Kim (Asian Cup) and Dayot Upamecano (torn hamstring) were unavailable – Dier was immediately in demand. He came, saw and played immediately. And recently won again with Bayern. He is a crucial factor in Munich’s recovery because he helps the defense regain stability.
As the only player in the entire Bundesliga to have played at least 500 minutes, he has not yet been overcome by an opponent when dribbling. In addition, Dier, who can also play in defensive midfield, is a real asset to Bayern’s build-up play with his precise long balls. His calm, concentrated, but still very communicative manner, with which he always organizes his own ranks loudly and with lots of gestures, is clearly good for the team, as is his strength in duels and his physical play. He harmonizes perfectly with his central defender partner, his defensive twin Matthijs de Ligt, who looks very similar to him.
In an interview with t-online, Dier spoke about his unexpected transformation from emergency nail to defense boss, Wembley and European Championship dreams and his friend Kane, whom he accused of stealing his goal.
t-online: Mr. Dier, was the 8-1 win against Mainz on Saturday exactly what you expected from your team after the 3-0 win on Tuesday against Lazio?
Eric Dier: After the changeable games before, we wanted to pick up where we left off against Lazio and get another win. The most important thing for us was to try to continue in exactly the same way and keep our game – and we did that.