Eric Dier has said the thing that has struck him most about Antonio Conte’s first month in charge of Tottenham is the intensity and passion from the Italian.
There have been various reports doing the rounds on the changes Conte has brought in at Spurs, including changing players’ diets and making the training sessions more intense.
It has been claimed that the Spurs boss has banned several items from the canteen at Hotspur Way including ketchup, butter and brown sauce.
However, Dier insisted that the changes have not been as dramatic as they are made out to be. When asked about the ketchup ban, he told The Daily Mail: “Everyone wants to talk about Conte’s training! Ketchup? Yeah! I heard about it.
“I don’t even know if ketchup’s banned. I don’t think it is. I don’t have ketchup. There is nothing I would have ketchup with!
“All sorts of things have changed but I don’t think it’s as drastic as people are making out.”
Dier’s form has been near-flawless since Conte arrived in North London, with the 27-year-old playing as the central sweeper in a back three.
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The England international has been part of a defensive unit that has kept three clean sheets in Conte’s four Premier League games in charge, conceding just one goal.
Dier admitted that he is enjoying the intensity with which the players are now working in training.
He said: “I’m really, really excited looking forward, working under the calibre of manager he is and how much he improves not only his teams but also the players in it.
“If you want to improve and get better and push yourself and push the team forward, then that’s the kind of environment you want to be a part of, that’s the kind of environment you need.
“It’s exciting going into training every day where there is such intensity to the work, such attention to detail and where the manager and coaching staff demand a lot of you. Working along those lines is enjoyable and a stimulant.”
Dier also spoke about how he feeds off the energy and passion the 52-year-old has for the game.
When asked about his interactions with Conte, the centre-back said: “When he talks to you, you can tell straight away his passion for football and intensity. The way he feels, you can’t help but feed off it, it’s energising. Every time he speaks, there’s such intent in it.’
“He really gets to you and that’s motivating. I have a sense of lot of similarities between that time (Mauricio Pochettino’s reign) and what I’m feeling now, in terms of work ethic, intensity, the discipline.
“It’s a lot more enjoyable to go into training every day working in that environment, where you really are working hard and pushing yourself with a manager that demands a lot of you.”
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One recurring theme from the interviews that various Spurs players have given over the last few weeks, is the admission that they are enjoying working hard under Conte.
That suggests that they were not happy with the lack of intensity in training under Mourinho and Nuno, especially after being used to Pochettino’s methods.
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