Mauricio Pochettino Blames Jose Mourinho For Unsettling His Star Player
Reuters / Dylan Martinez
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has blamed Jose Mourinho for Eric Dier’s unstable form last season.
Dier was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer, but Pochettino persuaded his star player to stay put. However, as per Daily Mail (via Mirror), the Spurs gaffer seems to be extremely unhappy with the ‘charmingly offensive’ way in which the Portuguese tactician tried to lure the 23-year-old to Manchester.
The Red Devils had made an approach for the Englishman, and furthermore, Mourinho himself had a talk with Dier following Tottenham’s defeat at Old Trafford in the December of 2016.
Pochettino wrote in his new book: “I found out that United have made an approach and the player is being destabilised. His people have been putting pressure on him, although United are not promising anything.
“Mourinho and I had finished our interviews at Old Trafford and the players were doing their warm-down on the pitch. When Jose was done with the press, he stood by the entrance to the tunnel and regarded the returning players.
“He greeted Moussa Sissoko and hugged Dier. They passed by me en route to the dressing rooms, laughing, speaking in Portuguese. Maybe it is a common Mourinho tactic, but he put Eric in a compromising position. You cannot do that after a defeat.”
Though the England international reported the instance to Pochettino, the Argentine manager was not amused with Mourinho’s antics, and believes that the Special One’s transfer approach was a key factor behind Dier’s volatile form during the previous campaign.
Written by Sidharth Jindal 
Sports fanatic with a passion for writing (predominantly football) and “Wants to live life to its fullest.” Writes about the Premier League on his personal blog.