Danny Rose’s heated exchange with Jose Mourinho resurfaces after Watford contract termination

Rose’s contract with the Hornets was terminated on transfer deadline day after a largely disappointing spell at Vicarage Road. 

The full back joined Watford last summer after ending his 13 year stay with Spurs, however, things quickly turned sour for Rose. 

He dropped down the pecking order under Claudio Ranieri and hasn’t played for the club since December of 2021. 

Now, Rose is a free agent and looking for his next club. 

The conversation took place in Mourinho’s office when 'The Special One' was in charge of Spurs and it was captured by cameras for Amazon Prime’s ‘All or Nothing:Tottenham Hotspur’ documentary series. 

Rose did not hold back as he questioned Mourinho’s decision to drop him from the starting eleven. 

The full back said: “I was very excited when you came as manager, but if you don’t want me to play, I’d rather you just tell me now, and I’ll stay at home, and I’ll train at home.”

Mourinho then explained the situation to Rose. 

He said: “Let me try to be as open as I can with you, because I think you deserve that. When I arrived, you played some matches. You were on the bench other matches. I didn’t select you other matches.

“I think this is not what a player wants. The week before Liverpool you were fantastic in training. You were fantastic.

“That made me decide that against the most difficult opponent, you played. I think you didn’t play well.”

Mourinho added: “The next game against Middlesbrough, [Japhet] Tanganga played so well and did so strong defensively and doesn’t make any kind of mistakes because he’s so fast and so powerful.

“I cannot say if you are going to be first-choice or play every match. It depends on you.”

An agitated Rose then fired back at Mourinho.

He said: “I respect what you are saying about what you said about me not playing well against Liverpool, which is true.

“But I play once every four weeks. Do you want me to be man of the match and give my best performance when I play one game and then I don’t play again for three or four weeks?”

Rose added: “The defence has kept two clean sheets. They play every game. It’s not fair.

“I wasn’t good against Liverpool, it wasn’t my best game, but other people have been s*** in training, s*** in games, but are in the squad every game. It’s not fair. It’s facts. The whole changing room knows it. It’s not fair.”

At this stage, Rose got off his chair and marched out of Mourinho’s office, stating that he will be speaking to Daniel Levy regarding the issue. 

He said: “And I’m going to see Daniel [Levy] as well so if he comes in, say I’m looking for him.” 

An astonishing encounter between player and manager. After the conversation, Rose left later that season to join Newcastle on loan.