You are not the weakest link
4 min read
Tottenham fans wanted shot of Danny Rose because of his tactical deficiencies. Continually out of position, he seemed to lack any cohesion with the centre-backs and received little help defensively from the left side of midfield.
Last season I was among them and I wrote that one of the problems we had and he had, was that he had nobody to learn from. There were no defenders on our first-team coaching staff and no experienced left-back. He was on his own and quite frankly floundering.
This season Mauricio Pochettino has arrived, a former centre-back with a priority to sort out the defence. Part of his work involves training players where they should be in certain situations, a reading of the game is rather crucial here to see when these situations occur. A player can quickly mentally assess where he is and where he should be and correct himself, rather like getting back to a default setting.
As an opposition you manoeuvre an opposition player out of position and then exploit the gap. If you continually attack through the middle with no width this becomes even more difficult as we have seen many a time.
Danny Rose has taken on board the messages Pochettino has been giving and he has been a revelation. There are a few out there who still comment we should get rid of him and play Ben Davis instead, but that is simply the closed mind syndrome, once a pet hate, always a pet hate. Quite frankly, at the moment Rose looks streets ahead of Davies who will have to up his game to oust his rival.
We have heard from Vertonghen about the personalised videos, Kaboul, Bentaleb, all have been given specifics to work on to improve their game. That coupled with fitness levels probably new to a few players mean it's not difficult to see why some have improved, none more so probably than Danny Rose.
It certainly shows and the weakness we had on the left side, we conceded goal after goal from there, has been moved across to the right, where we have a centre-back trying to learn the trade on the job. He's not doing a bad job, the weakness isn't as strong as the weakness on the left side last season, but if one were plotting to score against us that's the area you'd be targeting and in Aguero Man City gave someone rather adept at it.
The improvement in Danny Rose has seen Spurs offer him a new 5-year contract that he duly signed but not before a surprise call from chairman Daniel Levy.
That phone call from Levy really underlines that there are, or were, people at the club who are, or were, not willing to fight for the cause, the cause that is Tottenham Hotspur. We fans demand it, quite rightly. Make mistakes, that is going to happen but make them trying and giving your best, not going through the motions or in an attempt to oust a manager you don't like.
We heard all about the lists, no doubt verbally, Tim Sherwood gave Daniel Levy, those here for the money as a favour and those willing to fight for the club. In hindsight it rather looks like Tim Sherwood was a sacrificial lamb, sent to do the dirty work and take the flack.
Last season I was among them and I wrote that one of the problems we had and he had, was that he had nobody to learn from. There were no defenders on our first-team coaching staff and no experienced left-back. He was on his own and quite frankly floundering.
This season Mauricio Pochettino has arrived, a former centre-back with a priority to sort out the defence. Part of his work involves training players where they should be in certain situations, a reading of the game is rather crucial here to see when these situations occur. A player can quickly mentally assess where he is and where he should be and correct himself, rather like getting back to a default setting.
As an opposition you manoeuvre an opposition player out of position and then exploit the gap. If you continually attack through the middle with no width this becomes even more difficult as we have seen many a time.
Danny Rose has taken on board the messages Pochettino has been giving and he has been a revelation. There are a few out there who still comment we should get rid of him and play Ben Davis instead, but that is simply the closed mind syndrome, once a pet hate, always a pet hate. Quite frankly, at the moment Rose looks streets ahead of Davies who will have to up his game to oust his rival.
We have heard from Vertonghen about the personalised videos, Kaboul, Bentaleb, all have been given specifics to work on to improve their game. That coupled with fitness levels probably new to a few players mean it's not difficult to see why some have improved, none more so probably than Danny Rose.
“Mauricio Pochettino has been brilliant for me, I have nothing but nice things to say about him. I met the manager before pre-season and he said if I trusted him he would make me a far better player and get me into the England squad.
“But I’ve had to work hard to get there. I remember an interview he did when he first took over saying players have to suffer in training to enjoy games. Seriously, he wasn’t joking either. We do have to work hard in training and I do suffer but it’s an enjoyable kind of suffering because I’m benefitting so much. I’m far more tactically aware and more consistent.”
It certainly shows and the weakness we had on the left side, we conceded goal after goal from there, has been moved across to the right, where we have a centre-back trying to learn the trade on the job. He's not doing a bad job, the weakness isn't as strong as the weakness on the left side last season, but if one were plotting to score against us that's the area you'd be targeting and in Aguero Man City gave someone rather adept at it.
The improvement in Danny Rose has seen Spurs offer him a new 5-year contract that he duly signed but not before a surprise call from chairman Daniel Levy.
“He wanted to know that I was committed and ready to fight for the club and fight for the cause before I signed it.
“I like to think people can see how committed I am and how determined I am to be a success. It has not been easy. There were doubts and going into this season I did wonder whether I would be playing.
“But I’m not complacent and I’m always striving to improve. I can’t take anything for granted, I know I’m only one bad game from losing my place with strong competition here.”
That phone call from Levy really underlines that there are, or were, people at the club who are, or were, not willing to fight for the cause, the cause that is Tottenham Hotspur. We fans demand it, quite rightly. Make mistakes, that is going to happen but make them trying and giving your best, not going through the motions or in an attempt to oust a manager you don't like.
We heard all about the lists, no doubt verbally, Tim Sherwood gave Daniel Levy, those here for the money as a favour and those willing to fight for the club. In hindsight it rather looks like Tim Sherwood was a sacrificial lamb, sent to do the dirty work and take the flack.
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