José Mourinho has said Eric Dier will start at Burnley on Saturday because the player has put his high-profile altercation with a Tottenham fan behind him and is in the right frame of mind.
The Spurs manager believes his player has “nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be ashamed of” following the incident on Wednesday in the emotional aftermath of the FA Cup penalty shootout defeat at home to Norwich.
Dier clambered into the stands to seek out the abusive supporter who had become embroiled in an argument with one of his younger brothers. The Football Association has still to decide whether to bring a misconduct charge against Dier, who did not reach the fan so there was no physical confrontation.
“What about Eric being in the right frame of mind to play?” Mourinho said. “Of course. The only thing that matters is, first of all, that nothing really big happened. And, secondly, he played so, so well in the last two matches. Of course he is going to play.
“I did not consider giving him the weekend off. I would never do that. The player played so well. Nothing happened, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be ashamed of. The football world is behind [him] and understands completely the circumstances. Nothing. Of course he’s right to play.”
The out-of-character decision to chase the supporter could see Dier banned by the FA, which would be bad timing as he has just returned to the starting XI as a centre-half – the role he has come to consider his best. Dier, who made his name as a defensive midfielder, played well as part of a back three in last Sunday’s 3-2 home defeat against Wolves and then as one of two central defenders in a back four against Norwich.
Dier appears to be generating a little momentum after what has been a difficult season during which he started only four games in the opening months under Mauricio Pochettino, who departed in late November to be replaced by Mourinho.
“I found a sad player, a player without confidence, and then I was trying to give him that confidence back,” said Mourinho, who restored him to the team in defensive midfield before, on the player’s promptings, eventually giving him a try at centre-half. “Now we have the feeling that maybe his best position [is there],” Mourinho added.
Mourinho, who expects Hugo Lloris to be fit after a groin injury, has long suggested that his squad is imbalanced and lacks depth, and he made clear he could not begin next season with the same situation. The strange thing is that he has only three players out through injury: Moussa Sissoko, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
The issue is that a host of others are severely fatigued, including Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura and Dele Alli. Mourinho said the 19-year-old midfielder Oliver Skipp would start as he tries to balance his selection with Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg at RB Leipzig in mind. Spurs are 1-0 down.
“We know that we have to build a more balanced squad for next season because, although we don’t believe that the same situation is going to happen [regarding fitness problems], anything is possible in football and you have to be ready,” Mourinho said.