Mourinho plays down talk of Rose ‘tension’
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 last 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 defender knew he would not be involved at Vicarage Road. Mourinho said he was called late on Thursday night by his medical staff to be told the player, who had been nursing a back injury, could not train the following day.
Mourinho said it was “a bit of a surprise” on Friday when the player said he wanted to train. By then, Mourinho had already decided to use 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 would be available for tonight’s Premier League game against Norwich City, when Spurs will seek their first league win since Boxing Day.
Rose’s position at the club has been delicate for some time. In November, he 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 Daily 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 defender which Mourinho described diplomatically as “not phenomenal”.
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 were 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 said 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.”