OPINION
First things first, Danny Rose, on his day, is an exceptional full-back, that is not in question.
The England international has established himself as one of Mauricio Pochettino’s go-to men in terms of experience and know-how, and his performances have justly earned him a recall to Gareth Southgate’s England side after a period spent in the relative wilderness.
He is, undoubtedly, a fine talent, and one who perhaps could have followed the example of former marauding partner Kyle Walker and moved to a different club for more instant success.
But that doesn’t mean that he is perfect, and slowly, a worrying trend has crept into Rose’s game.
The £60,000-a-week [Spotrac] defender has developed a real tendency to misplace a pass, and it is preventing him from properly recapturing the form that made him and Walker such a potent duo.
As reported by Football.London, the 28-year-old’s passing completion rate was 83.3% from 66 attempts against Brighton on Tuesday night, and only Christian Eriksen misplaced more.
That’s a real concern. In a defensive sense, it threatens to make Rose a liability. You can be solid for 89 minutes, but if your concentration lapses just once at the top level, it can gift three points to an opposition.
In an attacking sense too, Spurs need Rose to be at his sharpest with the ball at his feet. Pochettino’s sides have always been set up in a way that relies on their full-backs pushing on and causing chaos.
If Rose is giving the ball away on the regular, is he really doing that? Perhaps not.
Make no mistake, Rose has earned his place in this side, but he could just as quickly lose it if he doesn’t start finding his teammates more often.