Eric Dier has claimed that Tottenham should be challenging for competitions above the level of the Europa Conference League and admits the players let the club’s standards drop.
Tottenham became the first ever English club to qualify for UEFA’s inaugural third-tier competition after finishing seventh in the Premier League last season.
It signals a huge fall from grace for the North London side, who were playing in a Champions League final just over two years ago.
Spurs centre-back Dier has struggled for consistency in the Spurs side in recent campaigns, though he has managed to find some early-season solace under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Portuguese coach has seen pressure ease somewhat heading into the international break after beating Aston Villa at the weekend, which brought an end to a three-game losing streak in the Premier League.
Dier has been honest in admitting that he and his Spurs teammates have not been performing up to the required standards, and added that the club should be in a much better place than it is currently.
He said (via the Mirror): “We need to be challenging for European football. There has to be European football in this stadium.
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“With no disrespect to the Conference League, we need to be playing above that. That’s what we should be striving towards.
“I think in football, most managers, especially the top managers, look at themselves first. As players, we have to do that as well. We had to look at ourselves first in the Arsenal game.
“That was one of our messages before the Villa game, we need to show a reaction for ourselves, we need to prove to ourselves that we’re a lot better than what we showed last week.
“That’s really important because this is something we’re all working together as a group. That’s everyone in the club. It’s not just the manager, it’s not just the players, it’s everyone together.
“We all have to work, we have to improve as a group, reflect on things we can improve upon. Really try to push on and take the club back to where it needs to be.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Spurs are having to go through the slog that is the Conference League, after a pretty miserable campaign last season.
The games seem like they are getting in the way, but Spurs need to treat the competition as another opportunity to search for silverware, which has eluded the club for too long.
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