OPINION
The international break can come as a boon to some managers and a curse to others – and it is difficult to decide just how Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino will be feeling as he heads into the second gap in fixtures of the season.
Spurs head into the fortnight off sitting fifth in the Premier League table, level on points with fourth placed side, and arch rivals, Arsenal, and two points behind the three sides sitting first, second and third.
However, the Lilywhites’ good start has also been marred by a number of injury blows to some of their top names, and left back Danny Rose was left joining the likes of Jan Vertonghen, Moussa Dembele and Christian Eriksen on the sidelines in the dying minutes of the win over Cardiff City – the last game before the break.
While the England international, who has joined up with the rest of the Three Lions for their international outings, insisted to ESPN that the blow was simply a “sore groin” and that he was hopeful it was nothing more serious, the update from Gareth Southgate’s training sessions is not good news.
The Independent claim that Rose was left sitting out of Tuesday’s sessions after his injury blow, and with the setback having not healed immediately, Pochettino needs to risk the wrath of both his player and England manager Gareth Southgate by demanding the 28-year-old, who has suffered serious injury blows before, returns to Tottenham and does not play for the next two weeks.
While Ben Davies is an adequate replacement in case of injury, the Argentine manager, with a limited squad, cannot afford to take the gamble, and while it would mean some unhappy conversations with both the England men, he needs to insist Rose is kept out – or face the consequences.