Eric Dier has disclosed shocking details of when Dele Alli started to struggle at Tottenham as he reacts to his tell-all interview.
Dele Alli won the heart of football fans across the world when he took his fans through the dark routes of his career that led to his subsequent downfall.
In a heartbreaking interview, Alli detailed how he navigated through a difficult childhood while disconnected from his parents. The 27-year-old revealed how he was molested by his Mum’s friend at 7, started smoking at 8, peddled drugs at 9, was hung off a bridge at 11, before meeting his adopted parents at 12 who helped him push through a career in football.
He was able to muddle through his traumatized and difficult childhood with the help of the adopted parents.
After initial breakthrough, Alli saw himself going down again as he suffered heavy setbacks and at a point had to seek for help through a rehabilitation center due to addiction to sleeping pills.
Eric Dier has lent his voice, attesting to Dele Alli’s heartrending interview on the Overlap.
Speaking while with Tottenham in preseason tour, Eric Dier confirmed Dele Alli’s struggles and revealed other shocking details of how Dele Alli’s downfall began but is now ‘upset’ at himself that he couldn’t help.
Dier said he had known ‘quite a lot’ but not all the details Alli laid bare about his early life.
“A long time ago, I went to Milton Keynes with him and he showed me around where he green up. He showed me everything, so I was aware of the outline of the picture, the frame, but not the picture itself.”
Eric Dier revealed Dele did not intentionally use sleeping pills but took them to drown and nibbed his undesired feelings before subsequently getting addicted to them.
According to him, Alli used to take the pill at night but at a point, he started taking them in daytime and always tried to hide it from his teammates but some players in the team were aware of what was going on with him.
Dier added few of his teammates comprising of Son Heung-Min, Ben Davies and Harry Kane used to confront him, asking him to stop but to no avail.
“Alli became reliant on sleeping pills while at Spurs, taking them to numb feelings and reaching a point where he took them in the daytime. He did his best to conceal it but some teammates knew he had problems. I, Harry Kane, Ben Davies and Son Heung-min were among those to confront him about it.” Dier said.
Dier was overwhelmed with emotions as he narrated Dele Alli’s struggle at Tottenham.
”I don’t want to say anything I haven’t said to him,’ said the 29-year-old. ‘I wouldn’t do that. For me, it was difficult to watch, upsetting. My overwhelming feeling, which I said to him, is probably I’m upset I didn’t do more.
“He’s been a great friend to me. He just has been. It’s not all one way. He’s done many things over the course of time that mean a lot to me. I know I could call him right now if I needed him to be here in Singapore and he’d come. That’s the kind of friend he is.”
Dele Alli referenced Eric Dier in his tell-all interview
Dele Alli referenced Eric Dier in his tell-all interview, referring to him as “a great friend” who tried to help when he saw him began to struggle.
”The likes of Eric Dier, he’s a great friend and you realise who your real friends are, people that don’t just say yes. A lot of players didn’t approve… and weren’t afraid to tell me. Especially Harry and Eric, those two are brutally honest.”
Eric Dier and Dele Alli relationship
Eric Dier and Dele are former teammates at Tottenham and England national team but it appears Dier was more of a close friend than a teammate based on his reaction to Alli’s interview.
Dier joined Tottenham from Sporting Lisbon in 2014 while Dele Alli arrived Tottenham from Milton Keynes Dons in 2015
The pair immediately established a strong chord of friendship after their first meeting and were integral members of the Tottenham squad under Mauricio Pochettino. Dier played as a defender while Dele Alli played as an attacker.
Following the sack of Mauricio Pochettino and the concomitant decline of Dele Alli’s career, the pair subsequently parted ways when Dele Alli moved to Everton after falling off the pecking order under Jose Mourinho.
Dele Alli is one of the longest-serving players at Tottenham now, having spent nine years at the club while Alli suffered heavy setbacks and career blows before he disclosed his past in the tell-all interview.
Alli is back to Everton and has a year remaining in his contract. He has been given a lifeline by Everton manager Sean Dyche to get fit and return to top level performance.
