Eric Dier hits out at ‘frustrating’ use of the word ‘Spursy’ by rivals fans as Tottenham star claims Jose Mourinho ‘has brought an extra edge’ to early Premier League leaders
- Eric Dier is critical of the use of term ‘Spursy’ to describe his Tottenham side
- He believes term suggesting the club have fallen away in big moments is false
- The north London club went top of the league after beating Manchester City 2-0
- The defender praised ‘extra edge’ manager Jose Mourinho has brought to side
Eric Dier has hit out at term ‘Spursy’ to mock Tottenham‘s failure to win silverware in recent years, and claimed manager Jose Mourinho ‘has brought an extra edge’ to the early Premier League leaders.
The term has been used by rival fans to describe moments where the north London club would fall short in big moments over past seasons.
It was particularly rife under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who had assembled a great team but failed to deliver a trophy during his five-year reign, fading away at crucial times including two Premier League title attempts.
Eric Dier has hit out at the use of the term ‘Spursy’ to mock Tottenham’s failure to win trophies
The defender also praised the ‘extra edge’ Jose Mourinho has brought since joining the club
They will hope things are different this time around after they went top of the Premier League this weekend thanks to a 2-0 win against Manchester City.
Dier believes the ‘Spursy’ tag is not an accurate reflection of the times under Pochettino and praised the ‘extra edge’ new manager Jose Mourinho has brought since he joined.
‘That’s something that’s quite frustrating to be honest because I think, as I said before, there were seasons where we finished second in the league and people called it Spursy,’ he said.
‘We finished second. We just didn’t manage to win it and people were calling that Spursy. I don’t believe this team has had that tag for a long time.
‘I don’t think teams enjoy playing us. I think we’re physical, I think we’re aggressive, I think we’re determined, we’ve got a good attitude and the manager has definitely brought an extra edge to that.
Tottenham earned the plaudits of many for their gritty performance in 2-0 Manchester City win
‘He’s more demanding in certain areas and ruthless with you individually and as a team so he’s definitely increased that a bit as well.’
Tottenham won the plaudits of many, including opposing manager Pep Guardiola, for their physical display against City on Saturday, but the defender believes that grit is something they’ve always had in his time at the club.
‘For me, I think we’ve always had that. From the time I’ve been at Tottenham, I feel like we’ve always performed in these big games. Maybe we’ve not always got the results, but we’ve always performed,’ Dier added.
‘For me, it’s more about and applies more to the games like West Brom away but this time we’ve had to suffer a bit there and managed to win 1-0.
‘It’s in those kind of games when it’s really important to be a big nasty, to be a bit ruthless in those difficult games away from home against difficult sides. I think those are the games we’ve suffered more in.’
The 26-year-old believes the ‘Spursy’ tag often used by rival fans is unfair and inaccurate
Dier says Spurs are not going to get carried away after his side went top of the Premier League
Goals from Son Heung-min and Giovanni Lo Celso gave Spurs the victory in the mature display against the former champions, as they made a statement of their own title credentials.
But the Englishman is not getting carried away after his side reached the summit for the first time at this stage of the season since 1985.
‘We’re top for now, let’s see what happens and we’re going to try and stay there. We’d be stupid not to and, as I said, we’re going to be trying to win every game,’ he said.
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