Danny Rose said Tottenham Hotspur have been stuck in third gear this season but he feels the wing-back system used in the 3-0 home win over Hull City could lead to greater fluency.
Mauricio Pochettino switched to a 3‑4‑2‑1 formation on Wednesday, with Kyle Walker and Rose as the wing-backs, as he sought to get the principal providers of pace and width higher up the pitch.
It was only the third time in his two-and-a-half year tenure Pochettino had started with three at the back and for the third time it led to a good result. Last season Tottenham won 2-1 at Watford with a back three and earlier this season they drew 1-1 at Arsenal.
Pochettino’s team have struggled to break down teams at times and there have been matches when Walker and Rose have not been able to set the tone in a forward-thinking sense. Against Hull they were on the front foot from the first whistle both would set up goals for Christian Eriksen.
Rose said there was an awareness within the squad they had not performed to their level often enough but are not too far off where they want to be. They are three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City. It was at this time last season that Spurs went on a run that lifted them into title contention and Rose suggested it ought to be a source of encouragement.
“It’s fair to say we’re probably still in third gear,” Rose said. “We haven’t hit the heights of last season. Hopefully, once the new year comes, we can push on. We had a good December and January last season and we’re looking to do that again.
“I’ve no idea why we haven’t hit the heights yet. We know that, though, and I think that’s a positive to take. We’re in the park still and we’re probably only playing at 60%. I don’t see why we can’t be in the title race. It’s a good position we’re in. Man City or Arsenal are going to drop points when they play each other on Sunday and hopefully we can capitalise on that.”
Rose said Pochettino told the players about the formation change at 5pm on Wednesday and he offered some detail about when they had been able to work on it in training – which, owing to the congested fixture programme, has not been too often. Rose made it clear he is very comfortable with the system and it will be interesting to see whether Pochettino sticks with it for the visit of Burnley on Sunday.
“I enjoyed it a lot,” Rose said. “It gives me and Kyle licence to get forward a bit more and we’ve justified it with our assists. Once we start working on it a bit more, I think it’ll show. It’s nice to have that plan B. Sometimes, when we play the usual formation, it’s a bit easier for teams to sit back.
“Everything is down to the manager. We had no idea [about the formation change] until we had the team meeting. We only knew when we went to the training ground at about 5pm. We know what’s wanted from whatever formation we play. We haven’t worked on it or anything but we’ve done well.
“How often have we worked on it? Not often – only if we’ve got one game a week. If we play Saturday-Saturday, we know the Wednesday session will be a tactical session – working on how to play out from the back and different formations. But when it’s Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday, as it has been, we don’t do much tactical work. There isn’t much time.”
Rose said there was “no panic” over the form of Dele Alli, which has been up and down, although there have been positive signs in recent matches. Alli, who has scored four goals, was threatening against Hull and he looked nonplussed at his substitution in the 62nd minute.
“It’s his second season [in the Premier League],” Rose said. “Everyone is not giving him as much time as he had last season. Dele is still our most dangerous player. He’s not doing as well as last season but neither is anyone else. I always say to Dele I wish I was him, with how well he’s done, and he’s only 20.
“He’s working under the best manager and the manager will get the best out of him. He’s getting chances. There’s no panic. We know Dele will start scoring again like he did last season.”
