Danny Rose has been left in no doubt as to who calls the shots at Tottenham after Mauricio Pochettino said he "doesn't care" whether his player was upset at being left out of the squad.
Rose said this week that he was "fuming" at missing out on selection for the game against Arsenal. But while player and manager say there is no issue between them, Pochettino took time to explain the situation before tomorrow's game against West Bromwich, which may see the return of Érik Lamela from injury.
“[Rose’s remarks] surprised me because all players are upset when they are not involved,” Pochettino said. “They are not happy. If you saw the faces of the ones on the bench and the two who are out of the squad on matchday . . . if you had a camera on their faces, it would scare you.
“It surprised me to create a problem like this when there wasn’t one. But for me I am happy that he was angry. If he is angry it means he wanted to play. But in the same way, I don’t care. Because it is my decision and I need to take the best decision for the team.”
Rose was the subject of transfer speculation in the summer and fined by the club after he criticised the transfer policy and wage structure. The player has since said he is fully committed to Spurs for the season, but both sides seem reluctant to go much further than that.
“I think that it’s not the moment to talk about Danny Rose’s future,” Pochettino said. “All players have contracts with us, all are involved in the project and you cannot guess what is going to happen. You know that in football it is a different part of the business; you need to negotiate, you need to look for another side. It’s important to arrive at the moment and take the best decision.”
Several setbacks
Lamela may finally make his return to the Tottenham first team on Saturday, though Pochettino says the final decision will be up to the player.
Lamela has been out of action for more than a year since injuring his hip in October 2016. The Argentina international has suffered several setbacks in his recovery but played an hour for Spurs’ under-23 side against Chelsea last week and Pochettino confirmed Lamela had been training with the first team.
“We are waiting because now it is on him,” Pochettino said. “It is up to him to get the right feeling to say: ‘I am here, I am available if you want, gaffer.’ That is now all that we are waiting for. He is training, doing well and now, after one year, it is about how he is feeling.”
According to Pochettino a decision on whether to include Lamela in the squad to face West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League at Wembley has yet to be made.
“I don’t know [if he will be selected],” Pochettino said. “We have another training session tomorrow so we are waiting. It’s a small chance, maybe we will decide to play him in the under 23s again, but we need to wait until tomorrow.
“We have a lot of games now: Saturday, Tuesday then the weekend again. We’ll see. I hope it is going well with him in his mind and that he is ready to play.”
– Guardian
