Mauricio Pochettino praises Danny Rose after Tottenham win

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Tottenham Hotspur secured top spot in their Champions League group as they beat Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.

Mauricio Pochettino has told BT Sport’s live post-match coverage of Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund (broadcast on 21st November 2017 from 19:00) that he thought that Danny Rose was very good in the Westfalenstadion, and suggested that it vindicated the decision to rest him for the North London derby.

There appeared to be some controversy following the derby as The Sun reported that Rose had been left furious with Pochettino after he was left out of the squad that travelled to the Emirates as the manager feared that he was not fit enough for the game, though Rose disagreed.

They helped put any talk of a potential rift to bed on Tuesday however, as Rose started against Dortmund, bouncing back from a slow start to put in a very impressive display. And after the game, Pochettino suggested that he was extremely happy with Rose’s performance, and added that the left-back’s display showed that it was the right call to rest him at the weekend.

“Danny Rose was very good. Very happy for him because I think today he showed what we expect from him,” he told BT Sport’s live post-match coverage of Tottenham’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund (broadcast on 21st November 2017 from 19:00).

“I think the decision from Saturday was very good because it helped him to develop and improve his fitness and I think that it’s a thing that we’re going to do with different players because we have ahead a lot of games and it’s impossible to cope with playing always the same starting XI and they are no machines.”

Some fans may question whether the North London derby was the right time to rest Rose when qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League was already assured and they would have had a second opportunity to wrap up top spot in the group when they faced APOEL in the final game had they failed in Germany.

But if Pochettino felt that Rose was not quite fit enough for the weekend then he surely made the right decision as Ben Davies has certainly done well this term, and he may have felt that picking the Welshman was less of a gamble for the derby than picking Rose.