The England international is one of a number of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad to have been linked with a move away from north London this summer
Danny Rose says he wants to ‘go out with a bang’ should the Champions League final prove to be his last game in a Tottenham shirt. Spurs beat Ajax in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night to set up a June 1 date with Liverpool and Rose admitted after that the Madrid showdown could be his swansong.
The left-back is one of a number of players to have been linked with a move away from north London, but is ready to put his personal situation to one side and concentrate on achieving a first-ever Champions League title for Spurs.
“I keep seeing my name,” Rose told reporters at the Johan Cruyff ArenA regarding transfer rumours. “If it’s going to be my last game for Tottenham against Liverpool I’m hoping to go out with a bang and lift the trophy and see what happens.
“It’s a Champions League final so individual situations have to take a back seat. We have to put the club first and we are going to do that. We do realise the chance to make history.”
Spurs were helpless in preventing the semi-final deficit growing to three after Ajax capitalised on their away win in London last week with two more first-half goals in Amsterdam.
With his team all but dead and buried, Mauricio Pochettino roused his team at half-time – just 24 hours after Liverpool recovered in similar circumstances against Barcelona in the other semi.
They hit back courtesy of a Lucas Moura hat-trick, capping one of the most dramatic Champions League ties in recent memory.
“The gaffer mentioned before the game, that’s the attitude you have to have,” Rose said of Liverpool’s sensational comeback.
“To be fair to him, he was really calm [at half-time]. He tweaked one or two things, and he just said that the next goal is crucial; if we get that, then it’s game on.
“And that’s pretty much it. I was expecting him to be a lot more angry but he was very calm. He just changed a couple of things and left us to it.
“Before the game he said the attitude [required] is what Liverpool showed. We all watched it in the hotel.
“He’s made us a promise, which I don’t want to say until after the final. He wants us to go and win.
“The manager, he never says anything after the game; obviously, he was very emotional but he’s very proud of us.”
Having outlasted the likes of Inter, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and now Ajax, Rose says it is a special feeling to be in the final on June 1, but is all too aware that Spurs will need to up their game to overcome their fellow Premier League side.
“If we defend how we did against Ajax, we’re not going to win,” he conceded. “We have to cut out the sloppy mistakes that we’ve made and hopefully play like we did in both second halves against Ajax.”
Tottenham’s players and coaching staff were overcome with emotion following Lucas’s injury-time winner, following a long, hard season in which the character of the team was again called into question.
“It was like a family celebration,” Rose said of the scenes at the end. “We all know the difficulties that we’ve faced this season.
“It was like a huge relief that we’ve made it to a Champions League final, the biggest occasion in club competition and it was just a relief and a joy. It was special.
“If we go back to the Barcelona game, everybody wrote us off,” he continued.
Source:Goal.com