The new England boss chose to bench the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder for his first game against Malta, and it is not the first time he has disappointed Dier.
England interim manager Gareth Southgate
England caretaker boss Gareth Southgate sprung a bit of a surprise in his first match as Three Lions boss, choosing not to select Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eric Dier in central midfield, and instead going with Wayne Rooney and Jordan Henderson in the engine room.
And although the expectation was that the England boss was being careful with Dier after his return from a hamstring injury, Southgate does have a little previous when it comes to snubbing the Spurs man.
England’s Eric Dier celebrates after scoring their first goal in Euro 2016
22-year-old Dier will very much be hoping he is not the man to make way to allow for Rooney to take a permanent position next to Liverpool captain Henderson, considering Southgate famously chose not to take Dier on Under-21 international duty to the European Under-21 Championships in the Czech Republic in the summer of 2015.
It was a strange decision at the time, with the youngster having impressed at both centre back and right back in his first season in the Premier League. No other player that had been involved in qualifying for the tournament had played as many games for a team in the top quarter of the Premier League as Dier, and not gone to the Czech Republic.
England interim manager Gareth Southgate during the press conference
At the time, Southgate told the media that he envisaged Dier as being a central figure in the Under-21 group after the tournament, choosing instead to reward the older players that had been involved who would not be eligible for Under-21 duty after its conclusion.
However, that wasn’t the first point where they had had a chance to fall out. At an earlier point in the 2014-15 season, Dier had decided to stay at Spurs to work on defensive training rather than join up with the Under-21 group.
Tottenham’s Eric Dier in action with Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko
The 2015 Euros would turn out to be a hugely disappointing tournament for Southgate and England, and they could have well done with Dier’s quality as the Under-21s finished bottom of their group and crashed out at the earliest opportunity.
Only a few months later, Southgate would not be given the chance to pick Dier, as he was moved up to the senior side after being converted to a defensive midfielder. Considering the Tottenham star was arguably England’s best player in the European Championships, there will be plenty of Spurs supporters who would fail to understand the new Three Lions manager’s decision if he decides against his inclusion as an anchorman.
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