Danny Rose has revealed after the win against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup that he came close to leaving the club last summer.
Speaking after the Lillywhites overcame their rivals 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli, Rose said Pochettino told him that he was free to leave the club when the pair spoke after the conclusion of the World Cup.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, the 28-year-old defender said, “After the World Cup, I called the manager and we spoke. We spoke for an hour before the first game at Newcastle and we spoke for an hour after that. The one main thing that stuck out from what he said to me was: ‘Danny — stop wasting time’. So yeah, I’m not wasting any more time. I’ve got my head down again and I’m doing okay at the minute. I’m trying to get back to where I was a couple of years ago.”
“He meant, ‘Be fully focused’. On the pitch. And if you’re not fully focused then you’re free to leave the club. So I told him that I am fully focused. And I’m going to be here to fight and help the club progress. And I hope that I am showing that in my performances and in training as well.”
Rose, who captained the Spurs side at the Emirates last night also spoke about how proud he was about that fact given where he found himself a year ago.
He added,” [Captaining the side again] was a very proud moment, especially because we won,”
“If I look back at where I was a year ago, I wasn’t playing too often. Now I have played three games in a week, we drew with Barcelona and won a difficult game against Burnley. And we won another difficult game last night, which was very special.”
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If Rose can get back to the level of consistency he displayed with his performances two years ago, he will be a huge asset for this Tottenham team as they compete on multiple fronts.
Given the way he played against Arsenal and Barcelona, things are certainly looking on the up for England left-back.
Ben Davies, who is Rose’s competition at left-back has impressed while covering at centre half in recent matches.
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