Mauricio Pochettino has been true to the words he spoke to Danny Rose in the summer of 2014 – two years on, the flying full-back is turning those words into reality.
The 26-year-old has revealed that he was one of the first players Mauricio spoke to on his arrival at Spurs. “From day one, I trusted in him,” the manager told us after Danny secured a point against Liverpool last Saturday.
The feeling is certainly mutual.
Back from a season-long loan at Sunderland in 2012-13, Danny played 30 times in all competitions in 2013-14. Then Maurico arrived.
“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,” Danny explained.
“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.
“A lot of hard work has gone in, a lot of patience from the manager as well. 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.”
Danny played 34 times in all competitions in 2014-15, including 27 starts in the Premier League.
Last season he excelled again, this time with 30 appearances in all competitions as he continued to share left-back duties with Ben Davies. That competition pushed his game on and he earned his first full England cap against Germany in March before taking a place in the squad for the European Championships. He was also named in the PFA’s Team of the Year.
He added: “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.”
(Spurs Official)
