In June, footage surfaced of former Tottenham Hotspur player Eric Dier undertaking his UEFA B coaching license with the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) at his current club, AS Monaco. Could we see the former Spurs defender grow into a top-quality coach?
Dier has taken inspiration from his former head coach at Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany, as he considers following a similar career path to the Belgian.
""Pep came to City when he [Kompany] was 29 as well, or 30, and changed a huge amount in him. The most important thing as a player as you get older is to still have that availability and humility to want to learn and improve, as a player and as a coach. In any capacity, there's so much to learn constantly""Eric Dier
Dier's formative playing days at Tottenham, however, subconciously prepared him for a career in coaching. He was exposed to a variety of playing styles and grew from a young prospect to a senior figure during his time at the club, all the while showing signs of an excellent future coach.
Voice of reason
Dier took the road less travelled for most English players. Born in Cheltenham, he grew up in Portugal after his family relocated there when he was six. This meant that Dier had to pick up the local language quickly and was challenged with learning his footballing trade at Sporting CP in his second language.
This dual-language status helped set him apart from his English peers during his time at Tottenham, often seen conversing with teammates like Gedson Fernandes and coaches like Jose Mourinho in Portuguese at the club's Hotspur Way training ground.
Like many Portuguese speakers, Dier's language skills extended to Spanish. This allowed him to be the voice that helped integrate Latin American players like Davinson Sanchez, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur, among others, into the Spurs squad, bridging language barriers on and off the field.
From Spurs, he moved on to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, where he got a grasp of German. Now, Dier is mastering French at Monaco, as can be seen from the PFA's footage of him training Monaco's U17 side. Should he decide to pursue a career in coaching, Dier's linguistic ability could provide him with more opportunities than others when he starts to build out his resume.
The Tottenham tactical seesaw
Never the most technically talented, Dier consistently showed his ability to understand a game plan and his role under a wide variety of footballing ideologies during his Tottenham tenure. Under Pochettino, he was somewhat of a Swiss army knife, making a goal-scoring debut at right back before alternating between centre-back and centre-midfield.
During Pochettino's reign, the fans enjoyed possession-based, high-pressing football in a culture that fostered player progression and man management. From there, they met with the tactic-heavy ideologies of Jose Mourinho to the ultra-defensive rigidity of Nuno Espirito Santo, and then the physical demands of Antonio Conte, with Dier often playing at the heart of defence in each system.
When Ange Postecoglou arrived in 2023, Dier would probably be the first to admit that the kamikaze high line of Ange ball was by no means his forte, and for that reason, he was deemed surplus to requirements by the Australian. No one can doubt his willingness to try to learn and stick to a game plan, however.
During the infamous home loss to Chelsea in 2023, Spurs were down to nine men, and Dier was sprung from the bench. His discomfort apparent, Dier persisted with the high line as Tottenham still looked to go for it.
Add to this his international experience working under Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate, as well as varying degrees of exposure to Leonardo Jardim, David Moyes, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Tuchel, Adolf Hütter and now Filipe Luis, it's safe to say that Dier will have looked at the game from almost every angle possible when he has finished playing.
A leader in jubilant and turbulent times
Under the aforementioned Spurs managers, Dier was among a core group of ever-present players over a nine and a half year spell on N17, which brought about both reformation and regression. Dier and his teammates guided the club to heights such as the Champions League final and endured lows such as losing to Slovenian side NŠ Mura in the Europa Conference League.
In these times, Dier grew from unknown signing to dressing room leader and occasionally scapegoat among the terraces. During the 2019/20 season, an argument between Dier and Dele Alli was captured by the Amazon cameras in the All or Nothing docuseries.
After Spurs’ loss to Wolves, Dele was outspoken in a way that Dier didn’t see fit and asked for clarity on who exactly his comments were referring to. The pair formed a strong friendship during their time at the club together, but Dier wasn’t afraid to stand up to Dele as he didn’t see the outburst as beneficial to the team.
Outside the dressing room, Dier dealt with a fair amount of backlash from the fans during these challenging times. After an FA Cup loss to Norwich, he took matters into his own hands and went about approaching a fan in the stands for aggravating his family.
While questioned by some, Dier's actions were backed by his then-manager, Jose Mourinho. In hindsight, it provides insight into the human side of Dier. A man who is willing to back his own and stand up for what he thinks is right.
Eric Dier undoubtedly doesn't plan on finishing on the field just yet, aged just 32 with a contract at Monaco that runs until 2028. Whether or not he pursues coaching further remains to be seen, but there's no doubt that his linguistic ability, married with his astute tactical awareness and leadership qualities, could provide the perfect concoction to produce a world-class coach in the future.
Perhaps we'll see Dier back in the home dugout of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium someday. What better reason to revive an old White Hart Lane faithful classic?
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