Journalist Alasdair Gold has questioned the treatment of Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence after he didn’t start in the club’s most recent game amid loan rumours.
What’s the word?
In the third round of the FA Cup, Spurs managed to squeeze past League One visitors Portsmouth thanks to a single goal from key man Harry Kane.
The cup tie afforded Antonio Conte the opportunity to mix things up with his starting team with Fraser Forster starting in goal for Hugo Lloris for instance.
However, Spence still wasn’t trusted to start this game and was only afforded a brief 13-minute cameo off the bench in what was just his sixth appearance of the season.
In an article written for football.london after the match, Gold seemed to question Conte’s treatment of the wing-back.
Indeed, he wrote:: “Conte sees Spence week in, week out on the training pitches of Hotspur Way, but when his system relies so heavily on having wing-backs exactly in the mould of the England U21 international it’s difficult to see the football reason as to why he would not give him more opportunities.”
He later added: “For Spence, it’s now all about playing the waiting game for a decision as potential chances for his first start come and go.
“If he’s not going to play for Tottenham then he needs to play elsewhere. The young wide man was sold a dream move that has been anything but so far, caught between head coach and club and just wanting to play football.”
Should Djed Spence leave on loan this winter?
Yes
No
Time to go already?
The 22-year-old arrived in north London this summer for a fee in the region of £20m but is yet to start even once for Spurs in any competition.
This may not actually be a huge surprise when you remember that Conte very publicly made it clear that the club had wanted to sign Spence and he was not a personal target of his, bluntly telling the press: “The club decided to buy him.”
Interestingly enough, reports from The Mirror (via HITC) now suggest that Brentford, Southampton and Wolves are all keen on taking the defender on loan for the remainder of the season.
Surely if Conte has only found the time to play Spence for 41 minutes so far this term, he would be better off joining someone else for a spell.
Whatever happens, it’s safe to say things have not gone to plan for the Englishman since his big summer move.
