Man City defender Ruben Dias is a patron of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, attracted by its adoption of the word "respect" as its key principle for the year; "When the word 'respect' came as the main word for this year, it made sense to me to try to join, because we need to speak about it"
Monday 18 November 2024 15:57, UK
A footballer's worth is generally felt in their absence. Is that doubly true of Ruben Dias?
He is a substantial figure, who will return, most likely, against Tottenham on Saturday. How substantial was evidenced by his trip to Parliament during his lay-off with a calf problem.
How many 28-year-old footballers address a House of Lords function in their second language? "Ruben's injury allows him time for off-field work", his advisor told me. His advisor was one of only two individuals who accompanied Dias to Westminster. Dias himself was the driving force.
The Portuguese became a patron of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, attracted by its adoption of the word "respect" as its key principle for the year.
"[Bullying is] so present in all ways of life," Dias told Sky Sports outside Black Rod's Gate. "You can be in the environment of football when you are growing up. You can look at school or online abuse.
"When the word 'respect' came as the main word for this year, it made sense to me to try to join, because we need to speak about it. We need to address it."
Had he been bullied? Was this personal?
"It's not so much that I've suffered any kind of personal abuse. Obviously, we all go through people not believing in you. You have to be strong enough to overcome those moments. For sure I have seen [bullying] happen and I've been in a good position myself. In those times, I recognised it and I didn't go along with it and I tried to stop it. This is an extension of those moments."
I tell him about delaying giving my 11-year-old a phone given the climate of fear around children and social media.
"I'm not close to having any kids," he say. "But already now I wonder about it. It is worrying and there is no correct answer. We need to be present, we need to address it. We need to be aware of it. The more we are aware of it the more solutions will come up."
Dias says he will listen to his body to determine when he will make his comeback - whether that is against Tottenham on Saturday or against Liverpool in what already looks like a pivotal fixture in City's title defence at Anfield on December 1. He dodges talk of that with the old "the next game's the most important" mantra.
As for any psychology behind City's recent slump - perhaps a loss of hunger having won so much in recent seasons - he said: "In the end when you have won so much, the more you win, the more people want to try to bring you down. It's a basic rule of life. We take it as it is. We have won four in a row; it's not the first year we are dealing with this.
"In the end, we need to be cold enough to look at things the right way and look at how things actually are. We are in second place in the Premier League. We are out of the Carabao Cup and we are in a good position in the Champions League.
"Obviously, we are at a point when people are missing out at a tough moment, during loads of games. If we are missing out on something, it is just being on our best level. That's what we need to aim for, being on our best level.
"We do love when people start doubting us so let them doubt. Our biggest game of the season is against Tottenham, the next one, that's where our focus is."
He is not ready to discount Arsenal either.
"Most definitely just as we are not out, no one is out. They are not and we are not. It is still early days in the season, there's still a lot to happen. We all know how the Premier League is; that's why we love it so much and we also know it's going to be a very wild season."
Could he be a politician one day? Given how he sidestepped an unexpected question about Manchester United's new boss Ruben Amorim, then is the answer definitely maybe?
Asked if he and his namesake crossed paths when both were on Benfica's books he straight batted: "I need to check when I was in the first team if he was still there…I wish him well, but not too well! It's another Portuguese coming into the main stage of the football world. I'm happy for that."
