Tottenham Hope for Danny Rose Return by March

The twisted knee Danny Rose sustained in Tottenham’s visit to Sunderland appears set to exclude the left-back from play through the rest of the month.

Rose was withdrawn in the 38th minute of that ultimately frustrating contest, having twisted his knee attempting to retrieve the ball. Though Ben Davies was brought on in Rose’s stead, Tottenham proved unable to crack Sunderland. The match ended 0-0.

At first Rose’s injury appeared relatively minor, at least according to Mauricio Pochettino. The Spurs coach claimed that while the England international would miss the match against Middlesbrough, he might be back in time for this weekend’s visit to Liverpool.

Now, though, the IB Times report that the club might not welcome the 26-year-old back until closer to March.

This presents a particularly troublesome quandary for Tottenham. There is perhaps no player in the squad whose unique contributions are more irreplaceable than Rose.

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There as a time where Davies represented a fine rotation option for Rose. The Welshman is more defensively minded but still competent going forward, and when Tottenham’s schedule got hectic in the spring of last year it wasn’t unusual to see the pair rotate match to match.

The advent of the 3-4-2-1 formation this season is in many ways built around Rose and right-back Kyle Walker’s two-way ability. The whole system relies heavily on both of those players’ ability to patrol their entire flank — adding to both the defense and attack.

Davies, when played in the same role in the same system, isn’t quite multi-faceted or adventurous enough. The result is that Tottenham’s attack looks lopsided when deprived of one half of its width.

Thankfully, with the exception of Liverpool the run of games in February isn’t looking particularly tricky. Tottenham take on Gent over two legs in the Europa League’s Round of 32 on either side of an FA Cup tie against Fulham. Stoke City visit White Hart Lane before a nine day break ahead of a match against Everton in the first week of March.

With no other real depth to call upon thanks to Jan Vertonghen’s own injury, Davies might be expected to suit up for each and every one of those matches for the next three weeks. That’s hardly out of the question, but it’s a thin foundation for Pochettino to count on.

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There are possible solutions. Tottenham could ask Kieran Trippier to switch flanks, or perhaps shift a centre-back over to the left. If Pochettino wants to persist with the 3-4-2-1, he could turn to a winger like Heung-min Son or Georges-Kévin Nkoudou. Seeing as how three of the five upcoming matches are against teams in weaker leagues, that might not be as reckless as it might seem.