Wales boss Rob Page says he “hated” how Tottenham Hotspur treated Joe Rodon
Speaking ahead of naming his Wales squad for their final Nations League games against Belgium and Poland, manager Robert Page admitted that he “hated” to see Joe Rodon warming the bench for Tottenham Hotspur on a regular basis.
He said (h/t the Independent):
“I hated seeing Joe on the bench every week because he’s such a wonderful talent… There’s better to come from Joe, believe me, and going out to play games now will help him achieve that.”
Rodon moved to French side Stade Rennais on a season-long loan deal last month and is already making a good impression in Ligue 1. He has started seven out of eight games for them so far this season.
The former Swansea City defender even scored in their 3-1 win against Brest. It was clear that he will struggle to get minutes if he stayed at Spurs, especially given his track record under manager Antonio Conte.
Great move for Rodon
The Italian manager preferred to play left-back Ben Davies as a left-sided centre-half rather than trusting Rodon with minutes last season. Since Conte’s arrival in early November of 2022, the Wales international only managed 165 minutes across all competitions for Spurs.
Under manager Bruno Genesio, he is seeing more trust. Page also trusts Rodon but he went on to say that not playing regular football could have caught up with the defender. Speaking to PA on behalf of M&S Food’s Eat Well, Play Well campaign (h/t Independent), he said:
“He’s massive for us and he’s never let me down, but you can’t continue to not play because eventually it will catch up with you.”
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Wales play away to Belgium on Thursday, September 22 and then against Poland at home in Cardiff on Sunday, September 25 next. Rodon, who has 27 caps for the Welsh national team, is expected to start or at least feature in some capacity in both games.
