Reflecting on the weekend’s Premier League matches, Thomas Woods provides his thoughts on some of the big talking points.
Rose’s influence is growing
If they were handing out awards for the most improved Premier League player since 2013, Danny Rose would win hands down.
The Tottenham Hotspur left-back, 26, was one of those youngsters with plenty of attributes who just didn’t seem to put it together often enough on the pitch.
Was he a left-winger or a full-back? He had disappointed as part of a talent-packed England squad who were favourites to win the Under-21 European Championship in Denmark in 2011.
When he was sent on loan to Sunderland in 2012/13, it felt less like a planned part of Rose’s development and more like a club sending the player away while they worked out what to do with him.
Since then though, Rose has improved with every season to the point where he is arguably the best left-back in the Premier League.
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Granted, it’s not necessarily the strongest position across the league — Liverpool are playing midfielder James Milner in that spot — but Rose has proved his importance in the role.
This journalist wrote two months ago about how important the modern full-back would be in this Premier League title race and the point is still valid.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United have all conceded costly goals this season as a direct result of full-back mistakes.
Chelsea, before the switch to 3-4-3, really struggled there too.
Rose scored the winner for Tottenham as they broke strong Burnley resistance in a 2-1 win on Sunday, his emphatic finish a result of time spent playing as a midfielder.
Mauricio Pochettino used his full-backs to get the breakthrough against Burnley. Spurs had 30 shots on target, with goalkeeper Tom Heaton making seven saves.
Rose said post-match that his manager doesn’t normally like him and right-back Kyle Walker to be so far up the pitch at the same time, but when they both flew forward, it gave Spurs another dimension.
Complete width with a player hugging the byline on each side was eventually too much for the visitors.
At the moment, it feels like Tottenham are going to be competing for a top-four finish rather than the Premier League title, but they have several fixtures in January that look could be tight affairs.
Trips to Southampton and Manchester City plus the visit of Chelsea. Win those and they can start thinking further than top four.
And these are games where one good delivery from an attacking full-back can make the difference. In the last two games alone, Walker has two assists while Rose has an assist and a goal.
Rodriguez’s comeback
When Tottenham travel to Southampton on December 28 for their next game, they will come up against Jay Rodriguez.
The English forward, 27, has had a torrid two seasons with injury but his availability is a major boost for Southampton, who have just lost top scorer Charlie Austin to injury for several months.
Rodriguez was in the form of his life in 2013/14 when he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament towards the end of the season.
He had scored 15 Premier League goals in 33 games, had won his first England cap and looked set to be picked for the 2014 World Cup.
It’s taken him two seasons to get back to form — 2014/15 was a complete wipeout and he only played 12 times last season — but Rodriguez is a sensational talent.
Perhaps he won’t get back to the player he was before injury, but early signs are promising — two goals in Southampton’s 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Sunday including a spectacular half volley on the turn.
With serious knee injuries, mental recovery can be as important as the physical and scoring goals can only help Rodriguez on his path back to the top.
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