Andros Townsend: Tottenham's Rose is the Best Left-back
Crystal Palace winger, Andros Townsend, believes Tottenham’s Danny Rose is the best left-back in the country.
The former teammates have played against one another twice, the latest a 1-0 win for Tottenham over Crystal Palace, since Andros Townsend was sold this past January.
For Townsend, he believes that Danny Rose is the best left-back in the country.
“To be honest, the player I like playing against the most is Danny Rose,” Townsend said as he was helping promote the new FIFA 17 game (via Sky Sports).
“He’s probably the best left-back in the country in my eyes.”
Although Andros Townsend may be biased with his opinion, there’s some truth in his words.
And it mostly stems from the countless days the two spent in training sessions when they were still teammates.
The constant battles the two had against each other helped Townsend form a solid opinion even if comes off as a little biased.
“In training at Spurs we used to go at it in the sessions and we’d kick each other a lot so I do enjoy playing against him.”
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To help back up what Andros Townsend is claiming, it’s best to look at Danny Rose’s statistics from last season compared to other top left-backs who made at least 15 appearances.
Based on WhoScored, Rose was the second best left-back last term when looking at WhoScored’s overall rating system that takes into account different stats.
But, since that alone doesn’t mean much, isolating key categories like tackles, interceptions, blocks and clearances, it should paint a better picture of how good Rose was.
In terms of tackles, Rose was the seventh best left-back. Interceptions, Rose was 11th best, blocks: fourth best and clearances: fourth best.
These rankings more or less show that Danny Rose isn’t the best left-back in the country, but a pretty darn good one in the Premier League last season.
Now while there are a lot of good left-backs in England’s top-flight division, statistically speaking, Rose should be considered at least in the top 10 or 15 defenders at his position.
Though this is only looking at Rose as a defender in the context of Townsend’s words.
In Mauricio Pochettino’s system, Danny Rose also helps out in attack by bombing up the pitch.
When Spurs lose possession, that’s when he tracks back to defend. Overall, as a full-back, Rose is a solid defender and a dangerous threat with his pace on offense.
Perhaps this is why Andros Townsend believes his former teammate is the best left-back in England. Because of what he can do both on offense and defense. A dual-threat of a player.
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