Pochettino Believed in Rose After Joining Tottenham
Danny Rose says Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is like a father figure to the entire squad.
Two years ago when Mauricio Pochettino arrived at Tottenham, one of the first players he talked to was Danny Rose.
Rose, who enjoyed a season-long loan spell at Sunderland during the 2012-13 Premier League season, made 30 appearances with Spurs a year prior to Pochettino’s appointment as manager.
But that wasn’t enough to shake a sense of uncertainty regarding his spot on the team. After a chat with the Argentinian those tense feelings were squashed immediately.
“From day one, I trusted in him,” Mauricio Pochettino said last Saturday after Danny Rose scored the equalizer against Liverpool.
That trust was well placed as the 26-year-old defender has been a key figure in Pochettino’s squad for the past two seasons.
“It’s no secret when the manager came in that I was uncertain about my position here and rightly so, because the season before I didn’t do as well as I could have done,” Rose said (via Tottenham’s official site).
“The manager came in and spoke with me, I was one of the first people he spoke to.”
“We talked about a lot of things for about an hour and one of the first things he said was if I entered into his philosophy, he would make me into an England player, so he’s been true to his word.”
Danny Rose’s journey from the England Under-21 national team to the senior setup was nearly seven years in the making.
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Rose made 29 appearances with the U-21 team after debuting on June 8th, 2009. But with a plethora of other talented left-backs ahead of him in the pecking order, it wouldn’t be until March 26, 2016 that he finally got called up.
Mauricio Pochettino definitely kept his word after helping Danny Rose become one of the best left-backs in just two years.
“A lot of hard work has gone in, a lot of patience from the manager as well,” Rose continued.
“Not everything has been great, he’s had to put up with a lot of mistakes I’ve made but he’s always stuck by me.”
“Whenever he’s had to tell me off or say I’ve not done something right, there has always been great advice at the end of it.
“He’s been like a father figure to myself and a lot of the players here.”
“I owe the manager and his staff a lot of praise and I hope I can continue like this during this season.”
After enjoying two successful seasons individually and getting even better with competition from Welsh international, Ben Davies, Danny Rose knows that he can’t rest on his laurels.
Every day is tough but because Rose is learning from a manager who has believed in him since the very beginning, all of the hard work has been worth it. And a majority of the credit belongs to Mauricio Pochettino and his entire staff.
“Mauricio is a joy to work with and I’m thankful Tottenham have got him here, got him to sign a new contract and now I hope he’ll see out those five years and even more.”
“I’ve learned a lot, the fans can see I’ve tried to improve and I give everything when I play. That is largely down to the manager and his staff.”