England full-back Danny Rose has laid the blame for his loan move to Newcastle United firmly at the door of Jose Mourinho.
Rose moved on deadline day to the Northeast club after falling out of favour in North London, keen to be playing regularly to ensure that he is a member of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2020.
The 29 year old, who was linked away from Tottenham last summer, made 19 appearances for the club when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge for the first months of the season. However, once the Portuguese took charge in November, his standing changed, and he made only five subsequent appearances under Mourinho, who made it clear the full-back was not part of his long-term plans.
He said: “I knew after a month [of Mourinho being in charge] I was never going to play. It was difficult going out to train knowing I wasn’t going to play.”
Rose has acknowledged that a knee injury which required surgery three years ago has hindered his progress, but he hopes to rediscover his best form with Newcastle.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.