The Djedaissance continues. Earlier in the week, Ange Postecoglou had said that fullback Djed Spence, once a “club signing” ignored by Antonio Conte and certain to leave the club one way or another, is now back with Tottenham’s first team and part of his plans after a solid preseason that earned him a seat on the team’s trip to Asia. Today, in embargoed comments to the press, Big Ange doubled down — Djed, back from a successful loan last season at Genoa in Italy, is a first team player, he’s training well, his attitude is good, and he will get opportunities to play football for Tottenham Hotspur.
“It’s one of those things that when you start pre-season, we had quite a few guys who were out on loan last year. Part of me is saying, OK, we need to keep evolving this squad. The guys go out on loan for a reason.
“Have they come back [and now] are they a better fit, are they part of what we’re doing? With Djed, I had an open mind. I certainly think the kind of characteristics he has would fit into our football. It’s then more about, OK, well he obviously didn’t fit last year, will he fit this year?
“He’s had a good pre-season. He’s trained really well. He seems to have fit into the group really well.”
Djed is a rare redemption story in a Tottenham team that hasn’t had very many of them lately. It’s a welcome surprise — not only does Spence fill a position of need as a utility fullback who can play on both sides of the pitch, but he’s homegrown (if not club-trained), and most importantly, he’s already here.
Most of Djed’s minutes in preseason have come playing on the left side of defense, which is not his natural position — he was signed as a right back. He’s shown a little discomfort at times in Spurs’ preseason friendlies on the left, but he’s equally shown the ability to get forward with the ball and with glimpses of real quality. Postecoglou said that ability to play on the left is valuable to the team, even if it’s not his preferred side.
“I don’t think left-back is his obvious position, I think he’s more of a right full-back, but the fact that he can play out on the left, again gives us some good options into the season where with European football we’re going to have more challenges. It was quite obvious last year that whenever we had disruptions in terms of injuries or suspensions, our performance dropped a fair bit. We’re trying to narrow that gap.
“Hopefully having Djed as part of our squad allows us to do that. He’s training well, he’s available for Monday and I’ll make those decisions at the weekend.”
Spence’s professional career has been dogged by allegations of a poor attitude, whether it was beefing with his manager Neil Warnock while at Middlesbrough (and petty sniping on loan at Nottingham Forest), feeling affronted by Antonio Conte’s “club signing” comments, and having his loan terminated at Leeds by Daniel Farke, it sometimes felt like Spence couldn’t get out of his own way. And it’s true, at times his former manager had him Djed to rights with regards to his attitude, especially when he felt cornered or disrespected.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here. Postecoglou confirmed that he and Spurs’ staff have had no issues with Spence since his return this summer, and no suggestions of any clashes with Tottenham’s staff. Ange gives all the credit for that to Djed, and it’s not a Djedi mind trick.
“You would know about it if it was [a problem]. He wouldn’t be part of it if it was. But that’s probably something that, whether that was right or wrong, as a person and as a player, Djed has taken responsibility for that and not allowed that to be part of the conversation this pre-season.
“For me and all the coaches, we’ve had absolutely zero issues with his attitude. He’s trained really well, he’s fit into the group really well. That’s on him. He’s the one who hasn’t allowed it to become an issue.”
Will that translate to a start for Spence on Monday at Leicester? Unlikely. So long as Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are healthy, they’ll always be first choice. But it does sound like Djed will be given opportunities to push both of them for minutes, and that’s exactly what Ange Postecoglou wants from the players on his bench.
Good for him.
