Who will be Tottenham’s first choice left back?
It seems like forever since Danny Rose took the field for Tottenham. However, reports from England claim he could return to Spurs within a fortnight. His return to fitness will leave Mauricio Pochettino with a very interesting choice to make.
The Spurs gaffer will suddenly be forced to choose between Ben Davies and Danny Rose. In fairness, Pochettino does prefer to rotate his fullbacks, but he’ll still end up gravitating towards one player or the other as his preferred options in the biggest matches.
When Rose first went out with injury nine months ago, the idea of Davies overtaking him in the starting XI would have seemed laughable. The Welshman was a nice backup for England’s first choice left back, but nothing more. His lack of dynamic athleticism seemed to limit his ceiling significantly.
In truth, Davies’ play last season seemed to confirm that line of thinking. He did an admirable job of replacing Rose, but Spurs really seemed to be missing their top left back against elite competition. Davies’ nightmare match against Liverpool and Sadio Mane was arguably the low point of Davies’ Spurs career. He was torched by the speedy Reds’ attack and his performance had Spurs fans praying for a speedy Rose return.
This season though, things have been much different. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Davies has been a revelation for Pochettino. The Welshman has scored two goals and notched two assists in the club’s first six Premier League matches. Not surprisingly, his Whoscored.com player rating average of 7.61 ranks second at Tottenham. He only trails the magnificent Harry Kane.
More from Tottenham Hotspur
- Bayern Munich reach agreement for Harry Kane
- Antonio Conte goes scorched earth on Tottenham
- Clement Lenglet set to join Tottenham on loan
- Tottenham set to sign Brazilian Richarlison
- Tottenham Hotspur hold off Arsenal for Champions League spot
This weekend’s match against Huddersfield might have been the best match he’s played in a Spurs shirt. Granted, the newly promoted side weren’t the stiffest competition he’ll face, but it doesn’t change the reality that he was devastatingly effective in the match. Davies is peaking at the perfect time to battle Rose for the starting left back spot.
So what will Pochettino do?
The easy answer to this predicament is that Pochettino will allow both men to state their cases on the pitch. It would be shocking if the Spurs gaffer elected to simply hand Danny Rose his starting spot once he returns to full fitness. That simply goes against the entire philosophy Pochettino has built at Tottenham.
By the same point, don’t think that Pochettino will disqualify Rose from the competition due to his injury absence or disparaging remarks he made about the club in the summer. Spurs are a meritocracy, the player Pochettino deems to be the superior player is going to start the lion’s share of big matches.
Next: Pochettino starting to lose patience with Dele
In other words, expect the two to rotate once Rose is deemed to be fully fit. After that, it should become pretty obvious who the better player is. Either way, Spurs are going to have an embarrassment of riches at the crucial position.