This week we were subjected to another Danny Rose interview in which the now 30-year-old opened his heart for the umpteenth time to the press. It was the usual fare from a player who obviously believes he has an important voice that needs to be heard in football. My interest spiked momentarily when Rose made a plea about playing in front of his adoring Tottenham fans, just one more time.
He wanted to come ‘home’ – no thanks. Whilst Danny may still have fond feelings for Spurs, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since the Doncaster born boy was part of one the Premier League’s best back-lines.
Kyle Walker left Tottenham in 2017 and with him went our last effective wing-back set-up. Mauricio Pochettino tried to struggle on using Kieran Tripper but that proved to be an exercise similar to fitting a round peg in a square hole.
Under Jose Mourinho, the salvage job is thankfully underway and defensively, the Portuguese has kept Ben Davies playing as conventional right back, a role that suits the Welshman perfectly. Davies is occasionally maligned, but the 27-year-old is like a house wine. Few ask for it by name, yet it outsells every other bottle by the gallon.
Serge Aurier has been hit and miss at right back, but in the wings Mourinho has Japhet Tanganga ready to more than fill the Ivorian’s shoes.
What of Rose’s desire to spoil the party? Help may be at hand from our friends in the North. Charlotte Daly for the Daily Mail reports that Leeds United are interested in adding some Premier League experience to the mix at Elland Road.
If Marcelo Bielsa were to take Rose for the last 12 months of his Tottenham contract, he may want the boy to also sign an NDA while he’s got a pen in his hand…
Keep forgetting about Sessy. Poor lad was great at fulham.. He needs a chance of some sort.
A very astute and fair assessment too.
I know what I’d like to fill the Ivorian’s shoes with 🙂
Nice Davies/House Wine analogy H
we have Gio and Dumbelly and if we sell Dumb then use that money on a replacement.
Sissy and Winks should definitely be squad players at best. Hojbjerg will come in as a pure DM, which is fine and an upgrade IMO as neither of the other two are any good at this role.
We then need to buy a quality CM to boss the game; our version of a Gerrard for example.
…problem is, them types cost money!
And keep Sessegnon as a more attacking player (unless we are going to play with wing-backs).
Agree that Rose is better than Davies. I think Sessegnon was purchased as his long-term replacement, but Jose doesn’t trust him.
Cerkin has been mentioned as one of our better academy prospects; personally I would get a quality LB in and keep Davies as back-up, with Cerkin making the bench gradually as he progresses.
Danny was a top left back for about 3 seasons but when he decided to tell The Sun about his true value he was doing so from the treatment room with a long-term injury. He hasn’t been the same player since. I don’t recall City, Utd or Madrid etc knocking our door down to sign him.
Too true. Any talk of a sissoko-winks midfield back then would have just provoked chuckles. A laughable impossibility,. Only levy could have turned it into long-term reality.
My Leeds persona is saying thanks but no thanks. I’m not sure Danny has it any more, he struggled to get in the toon some of the time.
Rose is better than Davies all day long. We have seemingly been going backwards in every transfer window since we were at White hart lane. Since Paul Mitchell left. It’s been a slow but steady decline.