Tottenham: Eric Dier explains how Ange Postecoglou differs from Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho

The Australian ‘doesn’t really do any tactical work in training’ in one key difference
Adam Pogrund9 April 2024

Former Tottenham defender Eric Dier has explained how Ange Postecoglou differs from previous Spurs managers, revealing the Australian “doesn’t do any tactical work” in training.

Dier, who spent almost 10 years at Tottenham under five different managers, joined Bayern Munich in January having found his playing time severely limited under Postecoglou.

The English defender, alongside Spurs’ all-time top-scorer Harry Kane, returns to north London on Tuesday for the first time since moving to Germany as Bayern take on Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Dier, who made four appearances in six months with Postecoglou, appeared on The Overlap ahead of the quarter-final clash, where he reflected on his time under Postecoglou.

“I really enjoyed those six months, apart from not playing at all,” he said “I really enjoyed the style of play, the style of training, I think he has fantastic coaches, and his team talks were great.”

“Interestingly he really doesn’t do any tactical work, what he does is, every single training drill from Monday to Friday is drawn up to represent the way that he wants to play.”

The 30-year-old, who made 365 appearances for Spurs, confirmed Postecoglou’s training tactics differed greatly from previous managers and it was under Conte he believes he thrived most.

He continued: “[Antonio Conte] was a lot of tactical work Monday to Friday, a lot of ten versus zero, walkthroughs – you were so well drilled, it would be engrained in you.”

“Antonio was probably the manager I played my best football under and aside from a manager, I really liked him as a man, he was a very honest and kind man,” he added.

Eric Dier and Antonio Conte
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

“I remember his meetings were just incredible, the intensity he would bring to his meetings and the intensity he would bring to training every day, himself, I thought was just incredible.”

Dier signed from Sporting Lisbon for £4 million in Mauricio Pochettino’s first window in charge at Tottenham, and the defender reserved special praise for the current Chelsea boss.

“He was fantastic at giving us the basics as young players,” Dier said. “His attention to detail was incredible, he gave us great fundamentals on the pitch with body shape, the way you moved your legs – all these things, he was obsessed with those details.”

 “I was incredibly lucky, going to him, he was completely unfazed about playing a young player and before I signed for Tottenham, I spoke to Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse at Southampton and that was really why I thought it was worth taking the risk.”

“I’m sure they didn’t expect us to do what we did in the space of the next couple years, but what we were able to do was a lot down to the manager.” 

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