‘I’ve played under the frontrunner for Tottenham job – this is what fans should expect’

A Premier League superstar knows what Tottenham fans should expect from a potential managerial candidate

Erling Haaland is well aware of what Tottenham fans can become accustomed to if Marco Rose is appointed as the boss of the Premier League club.

Spurs are searching for their next head coach following the sacking of Thomas Frank on Wednesday. The Dane oversaw a dismal run of two wins in 17 league games and Spurs’ 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday led to his eventual dismissal.

It remains to be seen whether Tottenham plan to appoint an interim or permanent head coach ahead of the North London Derby later this month but Rose, 49, has emerged as the bookies’ favourite to take the reins.

Haaland played under the manager at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund and previously said during his time in Germany how physically intense and demanding Rose’s style of play is.

Following his appointment as Dortmund boss in 2021, Haaland said to Stadium Astro: “I talked a little bit with him. I know him from before because I had six months with him in Salzburg. He’s a nice guy and I look forward to working with him.

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“The training is so hard here, so it’s exactly the same as it was in Salzburg, a lot of hard training and there is going to be a lot of running. That’s what I expect the tactic to be to press a lot, run a lot and attack a lot. Now we have to have a good pre-season and have to get to know each other and we will see.”

It’s been almost a year since Rose was last in a job – he was sacked by RB Leipzig March 2025. During his time with the Bundesliga side, he managed Spurs star Xavi Simons with the Dutchman scoring 18 goals and providing 22 assists in 68 games across all competitions.

Discussing his playing philosophy, Rose once told the Bundesliga website: “We want to be very active working against the ball when we lose possession, lots of sprinting. We want to win the ball high up the pitch and have a short path to goal.

“And when we have the ball ourselves, we want to play well; we don’t want to punt high balls up the pitch, but be quick and dynamic getting forward.”

Prior to venturing into management, Rose enjoyed a 16-year playing career with eight of those being spent at Mainz. His arrival at the club was triggered by Jurgen Klopp and ended up playing under the Liverpool icon for six years.

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While insisting that his style of play differs from his former manager, he admitted the time spent learning from Klopp helped him in regards to football knowledge as well as how to treat people. Rose said: “I spent a lot of years under ‘Kloppo’, and it was a great time.

“He shaped all of us. We picked up a few things in terms of football, but above all, it was the way he was with people [that was influential]. Maybe there are a few [coaching] parallels with me and Jürgen, but I’ve also found my own style.”

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