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Tottenham’s Dier Excited By Rise Through England Squad

By Alexander Balano

BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 26: Eric Dier of England celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the International Friendly match between Germany and England at Olympiastadion on March 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 26: Eric Dier of England celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the International Friendly match between Germany and England at Olympiastadion on March 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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At the age of just 22, Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier has already made a name for himself with Spurs and now he’s set to do the same with England in the 2016 European Championship this summer.

Eric Dier’s rise from a center-back and part-time right-back trying to breakthrough Mauricio Pochettino’s squad during the Argentine’s first year as manager during the 2014-15 season, has seen the 22-year-old make a huge leap in his second season with Tottenham.

Related Story: England Learned from Portugal Test Says Tottenham's Dier

Dier would go from a central defender and be inserted into the heart of Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 formation at holding midfield — a position he rarely played but had some experience — and become the shield in front of Spurs’ backline while also being a key member for Tottenham and now the England national team.

"“It’s great,” Eric Dier said (via Independent).“I’m excited, I’m just looking at it as a great experience. I’m excited to go there now and see what it’s like and just enjoy it.”“Football’s a crazy game, you never know what’s going to happen, but as I got older and older I opened my eyes more to this kind of opportunity and realised more and more that it could be a possibility.”“But for it to come as soon as it has, I could never have expected it, so I’m just delighted to be [going to France] and hopefully I can take part.”"

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 02: Eric Dier of England during the International Friendly match between England and Portugal at Wembley Stadium on June 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 02: Eric Dier of England during the International Friendly match between England and Portugal at Wembley Stadium on June 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images) /

Usually it’s much better for teams, at the club level or international level, to become better after suffering a loss because managers and players can better pinpoint what to fix rather than always winning and being a bit complacent in the end.

But even then, winning all three warm-up games is still good to see.

"“Obviously it’s nice to come away from our third game with three victories,” Dier continued.“We played well but we can play better and obviously that’s exciting going in to France.”"

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Dier’s ascension as a key player for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad in just one season is due to hard work, faith from his manager and oddly enough Pochettino selling his only two defensive midfielders on his squad last summer in a massive exodus of talent.

Étienne Capoue and Benjamin Stambouli couldn’t establish themselves as regular starters in the Argentinian’s system so they were quickly dropped. But it could be argued that they weren’t given a fair shot either.

What started out as a simple experimentation in closed training sessions prior to Tottenham’s pre-season tour, quickly became an ingenious maneuver by the 44-year-old coach.

Eventually Eric Dier quickly settled into his new role and saw Tottenham’s defensive record become one of the best in the Premier League. Roy Hodgson took notice of course and called him up to represent England in international friendlies before considering him a main member for this summer’s Euros.

Next: Lamela Backs Tottenham Teammates to Do Well in Europe

The English defensive midfielder turned an opportunity of a lifetime and ran with it to the point that he is now being considered one of England’s bright talents for both club and country.

There might not be many stories that could follow Eric Dier’s path, but one that certainly matches it almost to a tee, would be the 22-year-old’s Tottenham teammate, Dele Alli, who started his Spurs career coming off the bench before injuries saw his minutes increase exponentially as he was a starter before long and hasn’t looked back after coming up from League One with MK Dons.

Tottenham has 11 players in this year’s Euros and watching all of them will be exciting, but seeing how Eric Dier continues to become a better player and maybe a future Spurs captain at the holding midfield position would be fun to watch.

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