Rose Credits Tottenham Boss for Improving as Left-back
The path that Danny Rose took to becoming a first-team left-back for Tottenham Hotspur wasn’t as easy as other footballers who have played the position throughout their entire careers. But that didn’t stop the England international from giving his all.
Eric Dier’s transition from a center-back to a defensive midfielder was — at the time — a curious choice by Mauricio Pochettino but it worked wonders as the 22-year-old has been a revelation at holding mid since last summer during pre-season training. But seeing Danny Rose switch from left winger to left-back was a more drastic change four years ago.
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In a word, which Rose used, going from offense to defense was random. Looking back on it now, the 25-year-old understood that Tottenham was in a bind with Benoit Assou-Ekoto being injured. But why would Rose be a good player to replace Assou-Ekoto if he was a winger to begin with?
“Moving back to left-back was pretty random to be honest – it came about when Harry Redknapp was the manager and Benoit Assou-Ekotto was injured,” Danny Rose said (via The Mirror).
Basically, Redknapp took a major leap of faith. However Rose wouldn’t fully grasp that his calling was to be a defender rather than a winger until he would go on a season-long loan spell with Sunderland during the 2012-13 season.
It was there, with the Black Cats, that the Englishman started taking it seriously. But having Mauricio Pochettino become the new manager for Tottenham, this is when Danny Rose would finally succeed at his new position.
"“Even then, it was only when I went to Sunderland on loan [for the 2012-13 season] that I started to embrace the idea I should give the position some thought,” Rose continued.“As daft as it sounds, I had never had a manager work on me until Mauricio Pochettino came to Tottenham.”“That’s no disrespect to any of the other managers I’ve worked for, but it wasn’t until the current manager came that I had anyone who’s taken time out to work on me as a left-back and try to help me improve.”"
It’s not surprising to hear Danny Rose speak highly of Mauricio Pochettino like that as the Argentine manager is known to go over video with players to show them things that they need to work on.
They’re basically one-on-one coaching sessions on top of the whole training drills that he gives his entire team.
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Obviously seeing Eric Dier transition from center-back to defensive midfielder and Dele Alli move from central midfield to attacking mid shows signs that Pochettino had a hand in both player’s developments to adapt in a new position and succeed.
This is why Danny Rose, although he was taught by other managers on how to be a left-back, Mauricio Pochettino went further and really worked with him as Rose mentioned above.
Plus, having your manager telling you to model your game after one of the world’s best left-backs in Marcelo of Real Madrid, this is definitely Pochettino showing how confident he is in Danny Rose one day reaching that sort of level.
"“The boss always says that he wants me to play with the same arrogance as Marcelo at Real Madrid,” Rose added.“Every time Marcelo goes out onto the pitch he looks like he thinks he’s the best in the world, and Pochettino wants me to have the same arrogance when I play for Spurs.”"
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There are plenty of good left-backs in the Premier League, and for Tottenham, they’re one of the clubs who boasts a player such as Danny Rose. One who works tirelessly on his craft to become a better defender and improve on his offensive game to become a complete package at full-back.
Because of the work that the Argentine manager has done in the past two seasons, working alongside Rose, the 25-year-old was able to get called up to Roy Hodgson’s England squad for the European Championship and even become a starter too.
That’s progress, which Danny Rose has clearly made since returning from his loan with Sunderland four seasons ago. And it’s to be expected that the England international will only get better moving forward.