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| Pochettino is swiftly becoming responsible for much of the England team's development |
MAURICIO POCHETTINO will lead Spurs out at Arsenal as the most unlikely 'king' of England.
And, Pochettino promises, there could soon be at least two more where they came from.
His amazing production line for England has been running at full pelt ever since he swapped Spain for Southampton and then Spurs.
Pochettino also 'provided' England with Nathaniel Clyne, Callum Chambers, Luke Shaw, Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana when he was manager at Southampton.
Now England's would-be saviour forecasts that teenage whiz kids Joshua Onomah and Harry Winks are not too far behind them.
No wonder then that Dier is full of praise for his White Hart Lane mentor.
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| Dier is one of the young guns whom Pochettino has given the chance to shine |
He said: "He gives us young players the chance. He believes in us and all the young boys have taken their chances. If you do that he sticks with you.
"It is great to have someone like him who believes in us and gives us the platform to play on."
Pochettino, meanwhile, simply vows to carry on the good work for his 'adopted' country.
He said he was proud to see his young players winning international recognition, saying: "It is a great thing for the club and us.
"Josh Onomah started to work with us before the end of last season and it's the same with Harry Winks and other young players now training with us.
"It gives them the confidence to feel part of the squad until they show the quality to play in the Premier League."
That is why the Dier family will be out in force this afternoon to help their Eric cap the sort of week that dreams are made of.
They will all be at The Emirates to see him take the latest step on a fascinating journey from being brought up in Portugal - where his family temporarily moved to give him a better start in life - to playing in the Premier League and now for England.
He is just sorry that the grandad he never met can't be there to see him.
The grandfather is the late Ted Croker, the former FA Secretary who famously gave Margaret Thatcher an ear-bashing after she suggested football was to blame for hooliganism.
Now Dier is doing his bit to maintain his family's football tradition - and repay the guidance Pochettino has given him since he joined Spurs from Sporting Lisbon.
He said: "I don't want to get ahead of myself, but hopefully it will be a dream week for me and we will get a result at Arsenal.
"I would never have imagined during my summer holidays that someone would tell me this was going to happen. I wouldn't have believed them. It is a dream.
"All my family live here and come to all the games. They will enjoy Sunday and then come out to watch the England games as well."
His gran, Kathy, will be among them. "She sent me an email to say 'well done'. Nothing big, but it was nice, particularly because of her husband."
Now, however, Dier will concentrate on his emerging Spurs career.
"Everything is going well so far but it's very early days," he added. "We have sneaked under the radar a bit and have just got to keep doing what we have been dong every week and see where it leads us."
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