Danny Rose says Arsenal players 'fully deserved what they got' and reveals Spurs were motivated by social media 'nonsense'

Danny Rose has launched a blistering attack on Arsenal’s players, saying that Unai Emery’s side “fully deserved what they got” in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

Rose said Spurs were motivated by the “nonsense” that Arsenal players had posted on social media following their league victory at the Emirates earlier this month.

The Spurs full-back added “players that have only played 10 games for Arsenal were getting ahead of themselves” and said that “karma is a… it’s a… you know.”

Some Arsenal players had posted celebratory pictures in the dressing room after their 4-2 victory in the league meeting between the two sides, when there was also a touchline scuffle after Eric Dier had celebrated his goal with a shushing gesture to the home crowd.

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“We were relishing the opportunity [of playing Arsenal again],” Rose said. “Our only motivation this evening was remembering the nonsense that Arsenal posted after the game a few weeks ago.

“That was our motivation. Players that have only played 10 games for Arsenal were getting ahead of themselves. We used that in a positive way. Karma is a… it’s a… you know. They fully deserve what they got tonight, Arsenal.

“We had the motivation of getting to the semi-final so we are over the moon that we are in the semis. But the cherry on top was silencing them. Just remembering, they won a game at the beginning of December and they are celebrating like they won the league.

“We are over the moon and we have put that result right. We’ll see where they are come the end of the season and we’ll see where we are.”

Rose, who was named as captain for the match, said it was “very special” for him after a week in which he has played three games.

The left-back, who at one stage looked likely to leave Spurs in the summer, has revealed how one-to-one conversations with Mauricio Pochettino helped him to rediscover his focus at the club.

Pochettino told Rose to be “fully focused” on Spurs and said that he would be free to leave if he did not find that commitment.

“If I look back to where I was a year ago, I wasn’t playing too often,” Rose said. “Now I have played three games in a week, we drew with Barcelona and we won a difficult game at the weekend against Burnley. And we won another difficult game here. So yeah, it has been a great week for myself and for the team.

“After the World Cup, I called the manager and we spoke, we spoke for an hour before the first game at Newcastle and we spoke for an hour after that. We spoke for quite a long time and the one main thing that stuck out from what he said to me was ‘Danny — stop wasting time’. So yeah, I’m not wasting any more time. I’ve got my head down again and I’m doing alright at the minute. I’m trying to get back to where I was a couple of years ago.”

Asked what Pochettino meant by not “wasting time”, Rose added: “[To] be fully focused. On here. And if you’re not fully focused then you’re free to leave the club. So I told him that I am fully focused. And I’m going to be here to fight and help the club progress. And I hope that I am showing that in my performances and in training as well.”