It is no lucky coincidence that there are five Tottenham players in England ’s Euro 2016 squad - and that eight of the party have played under Mauricio Pochettino.
For Spurs left-back Danny Rose , who is thriving under the Argentinian, has revealed that Pochettino has gone out of his way to promote homegrown players.
None more so than Dele Alli, signed for a modest £5.5million from third-tier MK Dons last year but now the PFA Young Player of the Year and a nailed-on member of Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up for this summer's Euros .
Rose, Tottenham’s longest-serving player at 25, is a modest Yorkshireman, who had talked down his own chances of making the squad before earning his first cap in the stunning 3-2 comeback victory over world champions Germany in March.
And Rose admits that 20-year-old Alli is like chalk to his cheese – the midfielder exuding a supreme confidence and fearlessness.
Rose said: “Dele is never nervous.
"He plays with that confidence and arrogance that he is better than whoever he is up against. I admire that and the Spurs manager loves that about him too. He is not scared of anybody, it’s great to have that feeling. I don’t think the Euros will faze him, definitely not.
Read more:
“It’s a great achievement for Tottenham to have five players in the England squad. I’ve spoken to our manager and he quite openly said he loves working with English players. He said he’d be silly to come to manage an English club and not want to play English players.
“If I was an English kid at Tottenham in the Under-16s, U18s or U21s, I’d be very optimistic, believing I’d get my chance under this manager.”
In pictures — England beat Turkey 2-1 in Euros warm-up friendly:
Rose, Alli, Harry Kane, Eric Dier and Kyle Walker are the current Spurs player in Hodgson’s initial 26-man squad for France.
They are joined by winger Andros Townsend, who left White Hart Lane for Newcastle in January, and Liverpool’s Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne, who both played under Pochettino at Southampton.
Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers, Jay Rodriguez and Ryan Mason have also won England call-ups while playing for the Argentinian.
And Rose says his club boss values the attitude and energy of English players over their quality.
Read more:
He said: “One thing about this manager is that technique is not the first thing on his list that he looks for. It is your attitude and how far you’re willing to run, not just for yourself but for the person next to you – if you’ve got that, you are going to go a long way with him.
“There’s a lot of hard double training sessions, gym sessions... it’s tiring but you see how the manager has us playing with so much energy – with and without the football – and I wouldn’t want another way of playing.”
Spurs' surprise title challenge ended on a low note - failing to win any of their final four matches to finish below runners-up, arch-rivals and North London neighbours Arsenal.
Rose said: “I think everyone should be proud of the season overall, but it’s just a shame about these last four games.
"It’ll help spur us on, not just for next season but the next five seasons the manager will be at the club.
Read more:
“The feeling everyone had after the Chelsea game, when we could no longer catch Leicester, is something we don’t want to feel again.
“In normal circumstances, I don’t start a season feeling ‘I need to finish above Arsenal’ but the way this season finished, yes it does bother me. We were six points ahead of them and we’ve finished below, that’s disappointing and I hope we change that next season.”
England’s victory in Berlin featured a brilliant finish from Kane, a winner from Dier and a man-of-the-match display from Alli – strengthening the credentials of England’s Spurs connection.
Rose, with typical self-deprecation, said: “All that was missing was me contributing to a clean sheet!
“We were playing quite well when we went two-down but it ended up as probably the best night I’ve had in football.
Read more:
“Last season I didn’t feel I was anywhere near the England team. I felt I was playing just as well but it went unnoticed by a lot of people.
"But I’m thankful that I’ve won two caps and am hoping to get in the starting XI against Russia for the first game at the Euros.”
Rose has already played at four tournaments – three Euro Under-21 finals and the London Olympics with Team GB – and he doesn’t accept fatigue is to blame for England’s frequent summer failures.
Read more:
He said: “I don’t think anyone can blame it on tiredness or on the different mentality of a tournament. I think England as a whole have just not played as well as we are capable of.
"I don’t think there can be any excuses.”
* Danny Rose was supporting the finals of the biggest grassroots football tournament in this country – the PlayStation Schools’ Cup Festival.
Watch the Festival video highlights at www.playstationschoolscup.com