Eric Dier has made it clear that he’s ‘not happy’ at not being part of the England squad after being left out of recent squads, as he told Tottenham’s official website.
Before Euro 2020, the Spurs defender was part of England’s set-up, but given his poor form last season, he was hanging on by a thread, despite previously being a regular.
The £4 million man (BBC Sport) then lost his place in the summer, even from the enlarged 33-man squad, which was cut-short for the final Euro 2020 squad.
Harry Maguire, John Stones, Tyrone Mings, Ben White, Ben Godfrey, Conor Coady were all selected as the CB’s, with the now-Arsenal man and versatile Everton player getting cut from the main squad.
It would have been frustrating to watch for Dier, as he expressed when asked about not being picked by his country.
“I’m not happy, put it that way,” said Dier. “But for us to win before an international break is huge for the atmosphere.
“Otherwise you have to wait for a long two weeks for redemption, so that’s nice.
“For me, it’s just a chance to work on things, things I want to get better at. it’s a great opportunity to do that. It’s also another hit of fitness work – that also helps.
“It’s also a chance for a break. I’ve been playing a lot of golf, and training. It’s not a time to just sit there. I see it as a chance to get more work in, which is difficult during the season as there are games every three days.”
Even though Dier has started the season in a strong fashion, he is still seemingly far away from that recall.
Fikayo Tomori has returned to the England squad, so he’s another player that is ahead of him and the likes of Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa have also been mentioned.
All the former Sporting Lisbon man can do is continue to thrive in Tottenham colours and let his football do the talking.
Southgate has proven, with players like Stones, Jesse Lingard, Tomori and Tammy Abraham, that even if you have a drop off, for whatever reason, there is still a place for that player to return if they get back on track.
Dier isn’t exactly in that situation yet, and it will help if Spurs can show some consistency, because then it will help his long-term form.
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