Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino tells Danny Rose to stop thinking so much

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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP21 December 2018

Mauricio Pochettino says there is no doubt about Danny Rose’s quality and backed the defender to return to his best — provided he stops thinking so much.

In an interview with Standard Sport on Thursday , Rose said he was “trying to get back to where I was a couple of years ago”. The England international was considered one of the best left-backs in Europe until his career was disrupted by a serious knee injury, suffered against Sunderland in January 2017.

He has since struggled to remain fit and suffered from depression, while his relationship with Pochettino was strained by an explosive newspaper interview on the eve of last season, in which he criticised the club’s wage structure and transfer policy and said he would like to play in the north before he retires.

Rose came close to leaving Spurs in the summer but, since returning from a groin injury, he has made consecutive starts against Barcelona, Burnley and Arsenal.

He also captained Pochettino’s side for the first time since January 2016 in the 2-0 EFL Cup win at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Tottenham travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Sunday for the first of four matches in 10 days — a run which is likely to see Pochettino switch between Rose and Ben Davies at left-back.

Asked if he was confident Rose could return to his best, Pochettino said: “Yes. There’s no doubt about Danny Rose’s quality. He’s a great player.

“But like all players with quality, he needs to be focused on his job — focus, train and care about yourself and don’t think too much.

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“I’m always saying, ‘Danny — hey, you’re thinking too much, you need to stop, work and deliver the job we want!’ When he arrives at the training ground, he asks, ‘What are we going to do? Laps, a training session, a tactical session? Gym or no gym? Shower or no shower? Eat or not eat?’ Stop, relax!

“We think for him, but sometimes he tries to think for us. We’ve said, ‘Danny, you spend too much energy in thinking about everything. You need to stop. When you drive home, you can start to think again.

“He spends too much energy and then he doesn’t have energy for what he needs to do. And that is a dangerous situation.”

Asked if Rose is one of the hardest players he has ever managed, Pochettino added: “No. He is a lucky man. When I arrived, I’m not sure why, but I connected with him straight away. He felt my love.

“That doesn’t mean that he’s always going to play because I love Ben Davies, too. We had a good connection from day one. As he always told you, he was out [of the team] when I arrived and I stopped him from moving away from Tottenham. That’s why now he needs to pay me back.”

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