Eric Dier: Life at Bayern, Spurs & Arsenal UCL Clash

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0:32Just taking you back to Delhi, how did you feel when you watched that interview? Yeah, it's difficult for me to talk about Delhi, you know. It's difficult for me to watch, you know, and yeah, I have a lot of regrets. There are certain times that I wish I'd done more, yeah. In what way? How did it happen then? So when was the first time you heard that Bayern Munich wanted you? Do you need this change? Yeah, it was definitely time for me. It was probably six months too late, if we're honest. Talk to me about the Tottenham bit, that Spurs-y thing. You know, it's going to be a thing I'm going to live with the rest of my life, that we didn't win something.

1:17And there was this feeling that, why did Bayern Munich want Eric Dyer? This is a club which I see myself in. We can spend a few hours discussing it. Talk to me about England. Have you spoken to Gareth on him? No, no, I haven't spoken. I haven't spoken at all to him. Not even since you've come to Bayern Munich? No, no, no, no.

1:42Well, we're off to the Allianz Arena to see Eric Dier. And he's recently made his move to Bayern Munich. He's got a big game coming up in the Champions League against Arsenal. and they've also just been beaten by Dortmund in the last 48 hours so it's not going to be the most pleasant of atmospheres of the Allianz but a wonderful stadium, great club and working with Eric for England for a few years he's a top professional and actually I think it's a bit of a raw deal in England sometimes when he's being sort of, if you like, scrutinised as a football player and I'm glad he's come over here to a great club to further his career and this would be a great experience for him.

2:22I'm looking forward to speaking to him.

2:30Here he is. Hello. How are you? Good to see you. Good. Hi, guys. You're looking well, Eric. Thank you very much. Right. So, on Saturday night, I'm sat at home in Manchester and I've got a choice. Villa Wolves, Munich v Dortmund, and I decide to watch Munich v Dortmund. And it looks like, I mean, Thomas Tuchel after the game said that the league is now gone. Is that how you feel after the Dortmund game? Obviously you never want to rule it out, do you? But it was a bit of a soccer punch before the game because we saw that they had scored. Did that affect you? Because sometimes players say... I've been in that situation before at Spurs when Leicester...

3:04And I actually felt like it was really unfair at the time because they seemed to play before us every single week. And every weekend it was a bit of a soccer bloke, but they won. And when it's a late winner with two goals in the 90th minute, then I feel like that can... Obviously it can have a bit of an effect, but that's no excuse. To be honest with you, obviously that's happened when I was playing. You always wanted to play first. Yeah. You always wanted to get your game won and it did transfer pressure. 12.30. Yeah, get them in quickly, get home, get your Chinese ordered. Yeah, it's the best.

3:39In terms of Bayern this season, obviously you've only come in the last few months, but what has happened? Obviously Leverkusen have been outstanding. Obviously at a club like this when we lost Leverkusen away and then we lost 3-0, it wasn't a 3-0 game but we lost 3-0 and then we lost the first leg Champions League against Lazio. This is a new experience for me at this club but at a club like this you lose those two games and suddenly there's a hell of a lot of pressure. What's the big difference that you've seen here from being at Tottenham? Obviously this is one that I used to think when I played against Bayern Munich, this was a giant of a club.

4:15It was always the most professional outfit. Have you sensed that since you've come here? Yeah, it's funny because there's one side of things which is funny, which I said to Harry when I first arrived when all of you had the bad results. I'm completely unaware of German media. I have no idea where German media is or where I have to go and look. It's just not on my radar. Whereas in England, even if you don't want to look, you see it everywhere. The training round, Sky Sports News is on. and I see you all the time. And for me personally, it was a bit strange because I was completely unaware. So you were shielded from it, really?

4:48Yeah, because it's just not inside my life. But then obviously, like you said, you get a real feel for the size of the club when you arrive. There's a history to it. All the staff feel and there's a togetherness within the training round which I haven't experienced before. Hey, listen, I'm going to park right in your place tomorrow. Very pleased to teach him how to park. I park in Lero's space next to him and he's complaining every day. You've got to learn how to parallel park. It won't be long now before you're in this tunnel and Arsenal are here. You've obviously got to go to the Emirates first.

5:30If we ever walk out onto the pitch, because last time I played here, it was 2010, Champions League quarter-final first leg, and Frank Ribery was the left winger. And I was 35, struggling like hell, and he absolutely destroyed me. And you're going to be playing against Arsenal. You're great rivals from Spurs. Could you believe it? I wasn't ready to come back to England so soon. How are you feeling about it? No, obviously I'm really excited. For me personally, in all honesty, when I was at Spurs at the beginning of this season, I didn't know if I was going to play Champions League again. You know what I mean?

6:05That was genuinely a worry of mine, you know? So, yeah, it gives me goosebumps thinking that I've played against Lazio here. It was one of the best atmosphere I've ever played in. That whole stand, they cover it and they've got the big banners up. It was just an incredible experience for me. So, yeah, just to play in the Champions League, it makes me feel emotional, you know? Is Arsenal handling this place a factor? the history, what they're going to face. Do you feel that? Yeah, well, I've already said this in an interview the other day. It's a funny feeling for me. When we lost to Lazio, I was on the bench, and after the game, I remember a lot of things were said in the dressing room after the game, and most of it was like...

6:49It was sort of a calm dressing room. It was like, it's OK, they've got to come here now, you know? They've got to come to the Allianz. And I'd never really experienced that before, that feeling of confidence of, OK, now they've got to come here. It made me think a little bit of what Liverpool must feel like a lot of the time, you know, when they go, OK, now they've got to come play at Anfield. Who was saying that? Who in the dressing room would be the main people saying those sort of words, don't worry, they've got to come to the Allianz? Thomas Muller said it after the game, after the Latso game.

7:17Obviously, he's got all the experience in the world, and he just said, it's only 1-0, now they've got to come here. It was a nice moment to be a part of and see that, obviously, from a player like him. Did you watch the Arsenal-Manchester City game? Yeah. Yeah, I watched it. What do you think? I think everyone was a bit disappointed with the way the game went. We were all expecting a bit of a rook and we got a bit of a struggle. No, I think they're a very different team to last season. I think last season they played a lot nicer football than this season, but this season they seem to be a lot more result driven, a bit more gritty, a bit less naive, I'd say, probably.

7:52I think maybe they would have tried to play a bit more toe-to-toe with City last year, even at the Etihad, and this year they seemed like, OK, we're going to come here, defend well and move on. When I watched your game against Dortmund, and I'm thinking particularly the first goal, obviously Dortmund just sit back in a little bit, and then they just go like, do you think that's something that you need to be really wary about, particularly if Martinelli and Saka are there in those positions? Yeah. You can imagine Havertz and Odegaard dropping in like they did against Manchester City, but all of a sudden you've got those two, where Kimmich goes forward and Davies goes forward.

8:25Yeah, I think obviously that's something that we'll have to be extremely cautious of. I know Bakaya very well and Martinelli, and they've got great pace on the wings. Trossard's proved a really, really, really good player there as well. So that's something, obviously, we'll have to pay a lot of attention to. I think it's something that I've experienced a lot since I've been here in the Bundesliga, teams trying to counter-attack us. So we'll have to keep our eyes out. It's like a mini North London derby, you and Harry. Are you really looking forward to the game, or is it a case of, I wish we didn't have to play these lot?

8:56I'd rather it be someone else that's not so emotionally sort of... No, it's just, obviously, it's... Football is beautiful in this way, isn't it? Football always seems to give you these storylines, you know? Obviously, I think in the Champions League, when you get to this point, every team is going to be difficult. You're going to have to beat some really top teams, no matter what, to get to the final. Yeah, for us, obviously, for Harry and I, it's weird. Obviously, for Harry and I, it might feel a little different, but for them, for everyone else, it's just a normal Champions League so Harry can have more of an impact on it than me, I think.

9:32When I arrived here for my medical, the first two people I met were the doctors at the hospital, and the first thing they were telling me was, hey, we have to win. And then Anz, I really, really enjoyed those six months, apart from not playing at all.

9:58Just in terms of you, Eric Dier goes to Bayern Munich and there's that cynicism about you, that lack of appreciation, I think, in terms of, obviously, you're at Tottenham, you weren't in the team at the time. You maybe feel that lack of appreciation in terms of what you've done. Obviously, I work with you, with England. And there was this feeling that, why did Bayern Munich want Eric Dier? And I'm being kind to you here in the sense of, do you sense that there's a lack of appreciation of where your career is and what you've achieved? I think there is. I think there is. I know what I've done, I'm pretty calm with what I've done.

10:30I think you obviously know a little bit from your time as a player, when you're at the same club for a very long time, you're not that flash car in the car park anymore. You're the old pick-up, right at the park. When you're somewhere at the same place for nine years, every player goes through ups and downs, but they can be disguised a little bit. If you move club three times in nine years and you go for ups and downs, it's seen as more of a normal thing because he's changed club, he's changed city, he's settling in. He wants to leave. But if you're the same place, then you still go through those ups and downs and I think that's a difficult thing to manage as well.

11:12Do you need this change for your career? You needed it. Yeah, it was definitely time for me. It was probably six months too late, if we're honest. Obviously, I had a fantastic, fantastic time at Tottenham. I left very amicably, you know, and I always hope, just in my life in general, I can do that with people, you know, and I had a very, very good relationship with the club the whole time I was there. So, yeah, it was just a natural, natural conclusion. When you said six months too late, was that because you felt as though when Ange came in, did you feel straight away that you... Not that you wouldn't...

11:43I mean, obviously, you must like his football, everyone does, but that you maybe wouldn't be part of his plans and that you should have been sort of bolder or...? Personally, I like to look at... I treat football as football and I treat the other side as business, especially because... We could talk about it for hours, but the perception that a club should treat a player like a business decision, but a player can't treat the club like a business decision. So I knew my contract was finishing in a year's time and I knew that I thought that I would be able to have better opportunities. and I think I was proven right.

12:20So I think from my side and the club's side, I don't know how much the manager had to do with it at that point. Obviously, when a player has a year left, the club wants to... And were they trying to sign you up on a new contract? No, no, no. The club in the summer wanted me to leave. Yeah, they wanted to sell you for the money, basically. Yeah, but I made it very clear to them that it was only if the right opportunity came for me, otherwise I'm going to wait for what's right for me. I think that's absolutely right. You think of how that club has been when they've not wanted to let other players, not Harry in particular, so I don't think anybody would...

12:53No, and I have a fantastic relationship with the club and with Daniel because I think he really respects honesty and professionalism and I feel like I gave that to him for nine years. So in all my dealings with him, it was very easy because he knows that I'm a straight talker with him and he gives it back to me. How did it happen then? So when was the first time you heard that Bayern Munich wanted you? Well there was lots of talk, like there was kind of a bit of back and forth in the summer and then leading up to January, yeah it happened pretty quickly. I spoke to the manager here, I spoke to the club and it was, yeah obviously for me it was a no-brainer, I was absolutely desperate to come.

13:33And in terms of the actual sort of move itself, are you feeling now that you're going to see out the rest of your career away from England? Or do you think at one point you'll think no I want to go back to England play in the Premier League? Do you think, no, I'm leaving that behind? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. You know, you just never know. I'm extremely, extremely happy here. I think this is a club which I see myself in, in terms of the way the club carries itself, its principles, its beliefs, the way it is. I'm extremely grateful for the nine years that I had at Tottenham, but you don't get so long.

14:07I don't know how you felt about being in the same place the whole time, but you know I want to have experiences I want to experience you know to be in a new country at Bayern Munich living in a new city experience football in different cultures the way football's lived in different countries and when you look at this club this club has got probably one of the richest histories but also it's a club that's deemed to have an incredible mentality the strength of sort of the German mentality you were at Tottenham whereby the mentality of Tottenham was always questioned, like maybe me or everybody over a 15-year period.

14:40Talk to me about the Tottenham bit first, that sort of, if you like, that Spurs-y thing. How do the players feel when they're there and they hear that? And then what have you seen differently here at Bayern Munich that tells you that this is why this club's got a different mentality or a different perception? A lot of the time I'd call it lazy, you know, someone to call, you know, the Spurs-y saying or that kind of thing. For me, it's just lazy because you could look at any club in the Premier League and they could lose a game and they don't have that tag from the past so that no one uses it. You know, I guess that's the answer really as history plays a huge part in it.

15:12Yeah. When Pochettino was the manager, I don't think for five or six years anyone could possibly ever call us that Spurs. You know, I think we were fit, we were aggressive, we were on the front foot. I think it'd be difficult to say that about the Conte Tottenham team as well. I don't think anyone enjoyed playing against that team either. You know, it's going to be a thing I'm going to live with the rest of my life that we didn't win something, you know, and there are times where we should have. Did it play on your mind, that sort of, the Champions League final or maybe the year that Leicester won it and different moments like that?

15:45Yeah, Leicester the year after with Chelsea when they won it. Obviously, you are fighting against that as well. That thing that you haven't won for so long, you're fighting against that. Whereas, you know, when you're at a club that has a very, very big history of winning and very recent history, there is that just natural belief that exists within the club. And obviously there is the fact that when I arrived here for my medical, I remember saying to so many people, the first two people I met were the doctors at the hospital and the first thing they were telling me was, hey, we have to win, we have to win this, we have to win that, we have to win...

16:19You said about you had a good relationship with Daniel, and I think I've said about Daniel Levy that I think one of the best operators in football for what he's done off the pitch with the stadium and with the training ground. But then on the football side, when you were there, did you feel like the football project should have been separated and they should have had someone come in and look after that side? Because I felt like about United in the last 10 years. The business side could be OK, but if the football side's not OK, that's the priority. Did you feel like that at Tottenham at the time, that there was like a handbrake on the football side a little bit?

16:52The market's uncertain. Revenue's tied and hiring on hold. That's why results-driven companies are using Upwork to keep work moving. Go to Upwork.com today and start hiring proven freelance talent fast. No bulky overhead. No rigid long-term contracts. Just the right expert right when you need them. Work smarter and faster with Upwork. Go to Upwork.com now and find your freelance expert. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com. Post a job for free and get started today. I'm like you. When I see the way people talk about the chairman, it's a bit baffling to me when it comes to he takes such good care of that club from a business point of view.

17:35He takes such good care of that. You never see Tottenham in a financial fair play discussion. And they built a new stadium, a new training, and I think they have the best infrastructure in the world in terms of football. And then obviously from a footballing side, we can spend a few over-ups discussing it because I was there a long time and we went through many different kinds of regimes, you know. We obviously had the Pochettino era and then the different managers that came after that. Do you think the appointment of Jose, Antonio Conte and Nuno were Daniel's attempt to bring in almost like a...

18:11Because he obviously would have responded to that Spurs-y tag. He wanted those fierce winners who could almost in some ways just win, no matter what the cost, if the style was a little bit less, that maybe the football might not be beautiful, but actually they're winners, these guys. I think that's what he attempted to do. When Jose came, I think he felt like it was the last chance with that squad. And then Antonio, I think, was a little bit different because Fabio was obviously in charge, then Petrucci, and obviously he knew him very well from Juventus. So I think it was more a case of him just being a top, top manager that was available.

18:47And obviously Fabio, I think, probably played a big role in that. Which of those managers that you played under at Tottenham had the biggest influence on you as a football player? Obviously Pochettino, I was young. We were all very young. It was a little bit of a case of I think the club got a little lucky because I cost€5 billion, I think, and Dele was£5 million, and Harry came through the academy, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker came through the academy. They were, I think, like 15 or something when they signed. You had a core of really good professionals, you know, a bit older but still quite young.

19:19Ericsson was still quite young, Vertonghen, Dembele, Alderfield, Loris in goal. I'm sure they didn't expect us seven to do what we did in the space for the next couple of years. But I think what we were able to do was a lot down to the manager because I think he was fantastic. His attention to detail was incredible. He gave us great fundamentals on the pitch of body shape, the way you move your legs when you're running backwards, all these kind of things. he was obsessed with those details and he'd do it in every gym session was detailed to that as well. So I think I was incredibly lucky in that sense of going to him and he was completely unfazed by playing a young player and before I signed for Tottenham I spoke to Luke Shaw and James Will Prowse at Samson.

20:03That was really why I was like it's worth taking the risk because I was going to play at Sporting but because he was the manager it felt like if you deserve it Off you go. And then obviously, like, Jose and Conte are incredible characters and I learned a lot with them. Antonio was probably the manager I played my best football under. And he was, aside from a manager, I just really, really liked him as a man. I thought he was a very, very honest man, very kind. I remember his meetings were just incredible, like, the intensity he would bring to his meetings and the intensity that he would bring to training every day himself, I thought was just incredible.

20:42day after a game, the players that haven't played, the intensity that he would bring on those days as a manager, you know. And then Ange, I really, really enjoyed those six months, apart from not playing at all. I just really, really enjoyed the style of play, the style of training. I think he has fantastic coaches. His team talks were great. The most tactically aware coach you've played under, in terms of what he's tried... Because what he achieves on the pitch, you think, how's he coached that? No, interestingly, he really doesn't do barely any tactical work. What he does is every single training drill from Monday to Friday is drawn up to represent the way that he wants to play.

21:23Because he achieved it quite quickly. I think Conte does that as well, doesn't he? He drills that way of playing. You know it's a Conte team straight away. Yeah, like Conte, I could do it blind, you know? But obviously that was a lot of tactical work from Monday to Friday. a lot of tactical work, a lot of 10 v 0 and walking and walkthroughs and that kind of thing. But you were so well drilled, it would be ingrained in you. Even when we played against Chelsea when he was the Chelsea manager, you knew what he was going to do and I knew that his wing back was going to whip it round the corner to his striker.

22:00I knew he was going to do it, but it was still so hard to stop. And he would say that if you just get the timings right, and no matter what, when we trained against it in training, it was still hard to stop. So that was fascinating in itself, yeah. There's times I could have just been a little bit stronger, a little bit more honest with him. Obviously, I wish I could go back and do a few things differently. I didn't go to the Euros. Not being a part of that, it's shit.

22:33on hold. That's why results-driven companies are using Upwork to keep work moving. Go to Upwork.com today and start hiring proven freelance talent fast. No bulky overhead, no rigid long-term contracts, just the right expert right when you need them. Work smarter and faster with Upwork. Go to Upwork.com now and find your freelance expert. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com. Post a job for free and get started today.

23:14Just taking you back to the days where you were with Michel Potitino and you mentioned Dele just before and obviously I did the interview with him and you spoke really sort of well about yourself and two or three other players that have continually looked after him. Have you spoke to him recently and how did you feel when you watched that interview? Yeah, it's difficult for me to talk about Dele, you know. It's, I was, yeah, at first I speak to him all the time, I speak to him every week. Obviously just very, very difficult to watch. I don't know if I've ever seen like the whole thing, I've seen bits and bobs of it, but it's, it's difficult for me to watch you know and yeah he said some nice things about me but it works both ways you know he's also been a great friend to me you know my whole time and it annoys me a little bit because like people after that interview a lot of people talk to me they're like well no but he's been a great friend to me as well like you know Delhi well as well and he's like for me he's a special person But I remember I was getting married and I knew he was in America in rehab.

24:28And I spoke to him a few times when he was there and I messaged him. I said, like, obviously, it's no problem if you can't come, like, whatever, you know, because just let me know and whatever. And he was like, he was almost insulted, you know. He was like, no, no, I'll be there, you know. And he was, you know. And that's the type of friend that he's been to me as well. So my biggest thing is obviously I'm disappointed that I didn't do more, you know, in many situations I look back on. I wasn't aware of the full picture. There's a lot of things that, like, I was that annoying older person. I would always be on his case, you know, so he would hire other things for me or he'd tell me something and give me, like, 20 % of it or something like that, you know what I mean?

25:12So, yeah, I have a lot of regrets at certain times that I wish I'd done more, yeah. In what way? Because, I mean, he said that you tried, literally, you were the person that tried and tried and, you know, like I say, was on at him. There's times I could have just been a little bit stronger, you know, a little bit more honest with him. Obviously, I wish he could go back and do a few things differently. But does the game provide enough support? I'm not necessarily saying Tottenham, I'm just talking generally about four young players. I think I was just extremely lucky. I grew up at a club, Sporting Lisbon, where they were just incredible at looking after us as human beings from when we were eight years old.

25:54The way they disciplined us, the way they taught us everything, the principles they instilled in us just to behave, just principles just to be a good person, and they were so strong. And obviously it came from a position of power because they're sporting Lisbon, they're in Portugal, so they're like, every kid wants to play for us, so they could do that. In England, you have the problem where you have 20 Premier League clubs who can pay these young kids crazy amounts of money and the kid doesn't like the way the club does something to them and off they go down to Chelsea or they go across to Liverpool, you know.

26:27And I think that's a huge problem in the youth system in England. I think they need to find a way to give the clubs more power over young players where they can't just throw their toys out the pram and leave. They're not given the right education in how to be just as a person when they're young, you know, and at Tottenham, it used to just infuriate me when young kids used to come train with us. They couldn't shake your hand properly and just like look you in the eyes, you know, and say, good morning, you know. And I remember at Sporting when I was growing up, you had to shake everyone's hand. Because I lived at the academy, you had to shake everyone's hand.

27:04You didn't make your bed, like in the academy, you weren't leaving the academy at the weekend. Didn't matter if your mum came or your dad came. Didn't matter. If you can't make your bed, it's a pretty bad start. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And it's a habit I've kept with me my whole life because of it. And you had all these little things there. You missed school, you didn't play at the weekend, it didn't matter if it was Benfica or whatever. You're not playing. Your foundations have to be sound. Yeah, for me, with young players, your foundations have to be sound. It's very, very difficult for young players.

27:37I think, obviously, everyone's different, everyone's backstory is different. It's a different world that we're living in now with the social media and the constant thing. I read the Ferguson's, I think it was Ferguson's book. You got on a plane to go somewhere for a European game and you went to the back of the plane and had it out with a journalist. Yeah. Was that you? Yeah. Yeah, that was, no, because I was thinking about that because I was coming to speak to you and I was thinking about this social media thing. It's like, back then, that's how easy it was, wasn't it? Yeah. You had a newspaper and you knew the guy and you just went to the back.

28:15We used to think it was bad with the newspapers having a go at us. Now if you think, the newspapers have become a lot kinder in their sports coverage, I think. And the actual social media aspect is, oh, it can be vile, it's a cesspit. Yeah, so it's like nowadays you'd have to go to the back of the plane and there'd have to be a big plane. You've got to knock on a million dollars. Whereas back then it was just, yeah, you just knew the guy, you went back there. Have it out and then... And now it just comes from all different angles, from millions and millions of people. But it's interesting. I think that you've got to get...

28:47I mean, you're good at the media. You always have been. Even when you were with England, you've been pretty good at it. But that was sporting as well. From when I was, like, 14, we used to have, like, a media training, you know, at the academy. So, like, someone would come in, yeah, and talk to us about how you answer questions and all this stuff. And so, like, again, it was one of those things that I was... It was an education for me as well, you know? The biggest criticism I got was playing for England. And England, obviously, in the last 12 months, you've not been with England in the last 12 months.

29:16And you're on 49 caps as well, which is a killer. I've got lots to remind me. They're just going to have to get you on the pitch just for like even 10 seconds just to get 50. I know. Talk to me about England. Gareth's picked a squad maybe three weeks ago now that's got six centre-backs in. You're playing for Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Yeah. And there's Gomez, Maguire, Stones, Brantwaite, Konza and dunk. Where you at? No, it's... Yeah, obviously, I want to be a part of the England set-up. I believe I should be as a player. I should be a part of it. I believe that I'm a level of player.

29:54Have you spoken to Gareth on that? No, no, I haven't spoken at all to him. Not even since you've come to Bayern Munich? No, no, no, no. I haven't spoken to him. So, yeah, obviously, international football is really simple. you try and play as well as possible for your club, then the decision is out of your hands, you know. Since the World Cup, I wouldn't say I've had any kind of dip in form. I feel like I'm playing the best football of my career since Conte came, and I think I've carried that on since I've been here. I think I've shown that. I think people think as well that I'm like 37 or something.

30:26I'm 30 years old. For me, I'm nowhere near the end of my prime, and I'd imagine that this is going to be my prime, you know. So when I look around and players I played with as well, players that I think of at Tottenham, like Dembele, Vertonghen, Alderville, Blorchis, all these guys, they were 31, 32, and I think they were playing their best football at Tottenham. So what will be will be. These two games coming up against Arsenal, did they help you in some way? Obviously, one of them's in England. You would think Gareth will be there. Does it? I mean, I know you... You played well. Obviously, they're going to be huge games.

31:04Everyone's going to watch them. Because the big games, it's one of the exciting parts of the season, and you're going to be in the midst of it. I don't think you probably need to do an audition at the age of 30 and 49 caps. Does it feel like a bit of an audition for the tournament in the summer? For you? Does it feel like a bit of a... No. No, it doesn't. Because when I was younger, I probably would have thought about it like that. I was probably a bit more intense with my feelings towards those things. but I'm just so excited just to play, play in the Champions League, play for this club, you know, like I really, really love playing for this club, you know, so obviously being here as well, obviously you're a bit unaware of the England thing as well because of that kind of conversation.

31:48When I speak to you or an English journalist, then that question comes up. Apart from that... No one in Germany is interested in English national team. No, I've learned a lot about the German national team since I've been here. But that's not what I'm thinking about when I think about that game at all, really. Honestly, it's really not. It's just about trying to get through with this club and go as far as possible. Does the tournament in the summer being in Germany make it a little bit extra special for you, the thought of wanting to... I mean, you'd rather be anyway, wouldn't you? Because it's England playing in Germany in the tournament.

32:20But the fact that you're here now... 100%. I didn't go to the Euros and not being a part of that, Obviously having been a part of every other one during my professional career, it's shit, you know. Just sitting at home, not being there is not fun. And they're some of the best times of your life. Just obviously with maybe you don't feel this way as a player, but with the England national team where it is now, like when we're in Qatar, you know. There's a great feeling within the camp. Training's great. You're training with the best players in the country every day. I always love to go and train with England just because you're training with all of the best.

32:56So going away from a month to a tournament and living that together, you miss a lot of the things that are exciting to football as well. Do you feel like you've got your spark back? This move to Bayern Munich has given you a sort of... Yeah, 100%. Like we spoke about before, it was obviously overdue, I think, for me to have a new challenge. And when you're at the same place for so long, you do get comfortable, you recognise that more once you've left, obviously. so it's nice to come into training every day and feel like I've got to prove myself every day and play to the level of what this club expects.

33:35Have you got a message for your old enemy, Arsenal? No. No messages? No, no messages. No, I'm looking forward to it. They're a great team, great players and I think so are we so it should be a good game. I hope so, Eric. It's great to speak to you. Great to see you. Thank you.