Tottenham's Eric Dier has revealed the secret to dealing with Chelsea striker Diego Costa – be 'nice' to him.
Dier, 21, was selected at centre back for last season's Capital One Cup final against the Blues and refused to be bullied by Costa, putting in a coming-of-age performance, albeit in defeat.
The Chelsea man has earned a reputation as a wind-up merchant since arriving in the Premier League, with Arsenal's Gabriel – sent off in the Gunners' 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge for an altercation with Costa – his most recent victim.
Dier, however, has been unflustered by his match-ups with Brazilian-born Costa and the defender-turned-midfielder, who was raised in Portugal, says he they have even enjoyed 'good-humoured' chats during games
"I think I handled Costa well," Dier told the Guardian.
"He is the kind of guy that you need to be nice to. I see all these people trying to fight him. I’m not sure that’s the way to go.
"At the beginning, I wanted to make sure he knew I wasn’t going to roll over but after that he seemed fine to me.
"Obviously, we both speak Portuguese and we spoke a lot during the game. It was all good-humoured. There wasn’t any malice from either side."
Dier, who joined Spurs from Sporting in the summer of 2014, spent last season at centre back and right back but he has been converted to a defensive midfielder by Mauricio Pochettino this season – with eye-catching success.
He is delighted to have proved his doubters wrong.
"I like to think that I have proved a lot of people, who were doubting [the change], wrong," Dier added.
"Because I know that a lot of people did. [Some players] will say: ‘Ah, I know nothing about this kind of stuff.’ Some people try to play it cool but you are going to know, but it didn’t bother me.
"I looked at it like I had nothing to lose. Now, it’s just a question of maintaining it."
Dier, 21, was selected at centre back for last season's Capital One Cup final against the Blues and refused to be bullied by Costa, putting in a coming-of-age performance, albeit in defeat.
The Chelsea man has earned a reputation as a wind-up merchant since arriving in the Premier League, with Arsenal's Gabriel – sent off in the Gunners' 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge for an altercation with Costa – his most recent victim.
Dier, however, has been unflustered by his match-ups with Brazilian-born Costa and the defender-turned-midfielder, who was raised in Portugal, says he they have even enjoyed 'good-humoured' chats during games
"I think I handled Costa well," Dier told the Guardian.
"He is the kind of guy that you need to be nice to. I see all these people trying to fight him. I’m not sure that’s the way to go.
"At the beginning, I wanted to make sure he knew I wasn’t going to roll over but after that he seemed fine to me.
"Obviously, we both speak Portuguese and we spoke a lot during the game. It was all good-humoured. There wasn’t any malice from either side."
Dier, who joined Spurs from Sporting in the summer of 2014, spent last season at centre back and right back but he has been converted to a defensive midfielder by Mauricio Pochettino this season – with eye-catching success.
He is delighted to have proved his doubters wrong.
"I like to think that I have proved a lot of people, who were doubting [the change], wrong," Dier added.
"Because I know that a lot of people did. [Some players] will say: ‘Ah, I know nothing about this kind of stuff.’ Some people try to play it cool but you are going to know, but it didn’t bother me.
"I looked at it like I had nothing to lose. Now, it’s just a question of maintaining it."
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