Jose Mourinho takes Danny Rose for a run as he tries to coax him back into first-team contention
Jose Mourinho is trying to coax Danny Rose back into first-team contention, and went for a jog with the Tottenham Hotspur left-back in the wake of the player’s most recent episode when he objected to being left out of first-team training on Friday.
Mourinho played down suggestions that there was “tension” between the pair following his decision not to include Rose in the final training session before the game against Watford on Saturday, meaning the player knew he would not be involved at Vicarage Road. Rose had been nursing a back injury and Mourinho said he was called late on Thursday night by his medical staff to be told the player could not train the following day.
Mourinho said it was “a bit of surprise” on Friday when the player said he wanted to train. By then, Mourinho had already decided to use the teenager Japhet Tanganga instead and it was on a post-match warm-down on Sunday that Rose is understood to have outlined his unhappiness with the situation. Asked about his relationship with the player, Mourinho said: “I don't know what you mean by tension in the air, I don't have any problem with him.”
In Monday’s session, Mourinho said that Rose would run separately from the main group and embarked on a light jog alongside the player to allow them to speak privately. Mourinho said that Rose will be available for Wednesday’s Premier League game against Norwich City in which Spurs are seeking their first league win since Boxing Day.
Rose’s position at the club has been delicate for some time. In November said he would see out his contract which runs until the summer of next year and leave on a free transfer, whether the club liked it or not.
The Telegraph has reported that Rose is a target for Newcastle United this month. Rose last played in the 1-0 home defeat by Liverpool on Jan 11, a performance from the England man which Mourinho described diplomatically as “not phenomenal”. He said that against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup third-round replay last week he had wanted to give a chance to Tanganga. Mourinho denied there had been a disagreement between him and Rose. “My relationship with my players is good and I love to work with my group,” he said, “and that's it.”
Mourinho was in a positive mood and keen to emphasise the progress, despite a run of two defeats and two draws since their last league win. He said that the squad was adapting to a new reality of having to play without the injured Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko, two key players, as well as captain Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies. He denied that there had been any progress in the sale of Christian Eriksen to Inter Milan and that the Denmark international was available to face Norwich.
Mourinho said that he embraced the challenge of trying to win games with a new style that the team were not accustomed to – especially without their “killer” in front of goal, Kane. “It’s interesting, it’s good [the challenge],” he said. “I am enjoying, and we are feeling that we can improve the team. I like the players very much. We are speaking about quality players.
“One thing is to try to create a puzzle where there are some missing pieces without quality players. Another thing is to do it with quality players. When I look to Son [Heung-min], to Lucas [Moura], to Dele [Alli], [Erik] Lamela, we are speaking about quality players. I believe we are going to improve. The team is playing OK [even though] we don’t have that killer who guarantees you a certain amount of goals. [We don’t have] that guy who is great in the box, who holds the ball under pressure, who is good in the air. We don’t have that player but we can do it.”
He added that he had spoken to the club’s 17-year-old striker Troy Parrott and told him here was a first team pathway if he was prepared to work for it, and that there would be opportunities to get game-time this season. “But,” he said, “to put on his shoulders the responsibility of replacing somebody [Kane]? I don't think he's ready at all”.
