The Tottenham centre-half, who returned to the England squad for the first time since March 2021 having found the best form of his career, took to the stands to confront a hostile fan following his side’s home defeat to Norwich in the FA Cup. in March 2020. Dier, who was banned for four games and fined £40,000, feared for the safety of his younger brother Patrick, who had been involved in an altercation with a fan. Dyer did not reach the fan, who turned and ran away when he saw him coming. Dier said on Tuesday he has no regrets and would do it again to protect a loved one. Dier is a reluctant spokesperson on an issue that has concerned him privately for some time. Even at St George’s Park – ahead of Friday’s Nations League tie in Italy and Monday’s Wembley match in the same competition with Germany – he tried to play it off as not overly dramatic. But he was able to get a few things off his chest. “It’s definitely gotten worse [since the incident in March 2020]Dier said. “For me it is a serious problem. I had some family and friends at Chelsea’s away game against Tottenham [at the start of this season] and they had problems. Not even the nice ones. It’s a huge, huge problem. It was verbal, not physical but, like, mean. One incident was at Tottenham’s away goal. I want to emphasize that it was both sets of fans. I’m not saying they’re Chelsea or Tottenham fans – they’re football fans in general. “I never complain about these things and I don’t really mind. We played Burnley after I went into the stands for the next away game and the Burnley fans were singing a song about my brother and I love that. I find it quite funny. I like that kind of humor…if it’s done the right way. I love playing away games and I enjoy these kinds of atmospheres. It’s part of it. “But there are some things that seem very strange to me. It is not nice. My family would never go to an away game today because of this and it’s a shame I’m too uncomfortable for them to go. This has been going on for years. My mom hasn’t been to an away game. He’d love to, but I’d be worried about it, and that’s crazy, isn’t it? All our families go through it. Every player’s parents have watched them since they were kids and they’ve been through stuff like that.” Dier reflected on the incident with the abusive fan after Norwich’s cup tie. “I have never spoken about this situation to the press because, to be honest, I was not at all happy with the way it was handled. I don’t know what I can say about it because I don’t know if I will be fined or fined again. “It wasn’t very dramatic, like people make it out to be. But yes, I don’t regret it at all and would do it again. [For] my family, my teammates, anyone, a friend. I consider myself extremely loyal.” Dier became something of a scapegoat for Spurs’ collapse under José Mourinho during the second half of the 2020-21 season and a low point came when they missed out on the European Championship in the summer of 2021. Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But Dier has been reborn at Spurs under Antonio Conte, who took over in November last year, and now Gareth Southgate has returned to a strong England side from the 2018 World Cup, which reached the semi-finals . “I don’t want to sound like a teacher’s pet, but he [Conte] he’s done a lot for me – in every way,” said Dier. “Since he arrived, I have never learned so much. He is the godfather of it [three-at-the-back] system so that you can continuously evolve within it. It probably gave me a little bit of my faith back as well. I think I have reached my best level in my career, not only this season but also last season. I’m getting better and I can get better.” Dier, who won the last of his 45 caps against Iceland in November 2020, was asked about the possibility of reaching his half-century. “It would mean a lot. It’s something that when I wasn’t in the team played on my mind that I was so close to it. That annoyed me. I would love to be able to reach this milestone. I have seen that they have got a board now at the hotel reception [at St Georges’ Park] of all the people who have made 50 and 100. It’s a dream to be able to reach it.”
