Danny Rose Is Set for His Biggest Year Yet with Tottenham Hotspur and England
Premier League debut moments do not come much sweeter than the one Danny Rose experienced back in April 2010.
The 19-year-old was drafted into midfield by then-manager Harry Redknapp for Tottenham Hotspur's crucial derby match with north London rivals Arsenal. The untried youngster proceeded to hit a stunning long-range volley (see below) in a 2-1 win that helped his side qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 1960s.
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Rose and Tottenham are presently preparing for their latest return to Europe's premier club competition. It is one aspect of a year ahead that will rank among the biggest and toughest of the now-left-back's career, both at club level and for England.
It is unlikely the 26-year-old would have it any other way. His development into one of the best in his position in the country has seen the Leeds United-produced talent battle through numerous obstacles and changes at White Hart Lane.
"Danny is a very good player and how he's improved in the last couple of seasons is fantastic," Rose's current Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino told the club's official website this week. "It's down to him, because he's always open to work and trying to improve, and the player is always the key in this situation."
The Argentinian's arrival in the summer of 2014 marked a notable juncture in Rose's career. The subsequent improvement was not a given, even months into Pochettino's tenure.
Following on from a few FA Cup appearances for Spurs, the Arsenal match gave Rose an extraordinary taste of top-flight football. A proper first-team run would have to wait, however.
After a loan spell with Bristol City he got his first chance as a converted left-back covering for Benoit Assou-Ekotto at the end of 2010-11. He impressed enough that the idea was not abandoned heading into the next campaign.
First-team opportunities remained sporadic before Redknapp's replacement Andre Villas-Boas sent Rose out on loan to Sunderland in 2012-13.
Here he began to really find his feet as a defender, helping the Black Cats avoid relegation. But even upon his return, he still looked raw, retaining some of the more carefree tendencies he could get away with in left-midfield but which were liable to be punished at the back.
Then in came Pochettino, a former defender fresh from a reputation-enhancing spell coaching a mix of English talent at Southampton such as Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert.
Speaking to the Tottenham website, Rose recalled their first meeting:
"We talked about a lot of things for about an hour and one of the first things he said was that if I entered into his philosophy, he would make me into an England player, so he's been true to his word."
For Rose, 2016-17 is about sustaining and hopefully improving on the levels Pochettino has helped him attain.
At club level, Rose is in competition with Wales international Ben Davies for minutes at left-back. Pochettino has used this friendly rivalry to good effect.
Two seasons ago, the manager used a late-autumn injury to Rose to bring in Davies—signed from Swansea City earlier that year—as starter.
Even before his knock, the older player had been performing averagely. Restored in the New Year for the visit of Chelsea, Rose did not look back after a scoring performance in the 5-3 win that more satisfyingly evoked the energetic yet focused principles of the aforementioned "philosophy."
"There is a lot of competition for places at the moment," Rose acknowledged to the Spurs website after that win. "I can only speak for myself but that has brought a new side out in me this season."
"The competition has been good for both of us, we've had to fight for a position in this team and it's improved us both as players," Davies said a couple of months later, again per Spurs' site. "That can only be a good thing for the club and for us as players because we drive each other on and both try to set a standard every time we play."
Last season the two were rotated during certain periods as Pochettino looked to keep his team fresh amid a demanding schedule (a similar situation occurred on the right flank with Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier). It worked well for the most part, but after changing things up one time too many for a disappointing loss away at West Ham United in March, it became clear a little more consistency would be welcome.
Rose has kept his place heading into the current campaign, starting all three of Spurs' matches. Some rotation with Davies will almost certainly be ahead for the same reason as last season, but for now the Englishman looks to have the edge so far as being the first-choice man.
One of the rewards of Rose's good form has been the international call-up Pochettino encouraged him to target.
New England manager Sam Allardyce has selected him for his first squad in charge of the national team (see below). Should he feature in the World Cup qualifier away at Slovakia, he will get his eighth cap in less than a year.
While those opportunities—beginning with the March friendly win over world champions Germany and including three at Euro 2016—have been thoroughly deserved, Rose also likely benefited from the absence of Luke Shaw.
The long-touted Manchester United defender missed most of last season through injury after beginning it encouragingly. Fit again, Shaw has started all four of the Red Devils' games so far and is back in the England squad as one of the two left-backs (Allardyce confirming on Sunday his intent for a minimum of two players in each position, per FATV).
Rose may feel aggrieved if the 21-year-old starts instead of him against Slovakia.
Although part of a disappointing European Championship for England, he played decently enough individually to hope he gets the chance to prove his worth. Given he has confirmed he will retain Wayne Rooney as captain, Allardyce may be inclined to initially to go for some consistency in defence, too.
The competition with Shaw adds an extra dimension to Rose's Tottenham performances moving forward.
He was already tasked with doing his part in mounting another title challenge and ensuring the team does well in the Champions League. Knowing these high-profile showcases will inform his England involvement could be a burden or inspiration.
Again, knowing Rose, you would suspect something close to the latter.
As noted by Squawka above, he has become a reliable big-game player for Spurs.
His equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool brought to mind goals in important springtime fixtures against West Ham and Swansea City over the last couple of seasons. Both teams left him unchecked and suffered the consequences when he popped up in space and fired home.
These goals are examples of Rose's confidence performing within the aggressive structures of Pochettino's philosophy.
Against the Reds, he could be seen moving high up the left flank as centre-back Toby Alderweireld passed from just inside his own half.
Makeshift right-back Eric Dier had taken a similar route down the opposite wing and subsequently sent in a cross. Erik Lamela's central run pulled Liverpool players away from the far side of the box, giving Rose enough time to control the deflected delivery and shoot past Simon Mignolet.
"First, I was worried about my first touch and after that, I had time to think about it and if I'd hit it how I wanted to hit it, the goalkeeper would probably have saved it," he told Tottenham's official website after. "I caught it off my ankle and that’s the only place the ball could have gone."
The flip side of playing adventurously as Rose does is that Spurs can sometimes be left a little open at the back. Just like any defender, not all his judgements are perfect.
The latter was seen against Liverpool in a 16th-minute choice to try and play Sadio Mane offside rather than track him. He was late doing so, and had Lallana's through ball not been played closer to the alert Alderweireld, Spurs might have been in trouble.
Goalkeeper Michel Vorm would have been hard pushed to stop Mane here. A little later on, he was on hand to stop the attacker after Rose was one of several home players caught forward following a failed Christian Eriksen free-kick from which Liverpool quickly broke.
While Rose and his fellow defenders often walk a fine line in a system that encourages them to play from the back and get forward, he has largely become a responsible and competitive protector.
Mane got the better of him in the 38th minute, bringing down a high ball and turning away into the Spurs half. Dele Alli looked to have recovered possession, but the ball unfortunately fell to Lallana.
Rose was still out of position with Clyne lurking dangerously in the vacated area. Quickly appraising the situation, he worked his way back and used his speed to get to Lallana's pass before the Liverpool right-back.
"It's fair to say we didn’t play as well as we did last weekend against [Crystal] Palace and we were all disappointed at half-time because we know the standards we've set under the manager," a reflective Rose said to his club website after of a mixed game for him personally.
"If we don't win games the aim is not to lose and we're happy we managed to get a point but at the same time we're disappointed we didn't play as well as we can and create more chances."
By attempting to again establish himself as Tottenham and England's best left-back, Rose will try to help ensure such disappointment is rare moving forward.
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