It’s been some time since Tottenham Hotspur had a dependable and constant possibility on the suitable facet of their defence.
Kyle Walker left for Manchester City in 2017, while Kieran Trippier departed in 2019 for Atletico Madrid and since then, managers previous and current have struggled to discover a true successor to the position.
Now, present head coach Antonio Conte could be about to fall into the identical entice, one which noticed one other former Premier League title-winner in Jose Mourinho battle to maintain his job at Hotspur Way.
The Italian presently favours Emerson Royal as his first-choice proper wing-back, with the aforementioned Portuguese’s signing, Matt Doherty, a backup possibility.
Should Djed Spence be a starter for Spurs?
YES!
NO!
However, within the current switch window, sporting director Fabio Paratici managed to seal a possible star of the long run, signing Djed Spence from Championship facet Middlesbrough in a £20m deal after the 22-year-old helped Nottingham Forest to promotion throughout a profitable mortgage stint.
Emerson may be very a lot a defender that also divides opinion round N17, starting from the supporters usually describing him as a “liability” to ex-Spurs captain Jonathan Woodgate beforehand lambasting his defending as “horrendous.”
Mourinho usually made his mattress and needed to lie in it by deploying Serge Aurier – additionally often slammed as a ‘liability‘ – as his regular right-back candidate. He almost acknowledged exactly how poor the Ivory Coast international was by utilising Moussa Sissoko as a right-midfielder to help out due to Aurier’s defensive frailties and unreliability.
Spence could be the exception to the rule, although Conte might want to change his perspective towards the younger expertise.
“Spence is an investment of the club,” Conte stated (by way of The Athletic). “The club wanted to do it. I said okay, this player is young but he showed he can become a good, important player for us.”
After six direct aim contributions and averages of 1.6 interceptions and 1.5 tackles per recreation in 2021/22, the England U21 worldwide ought to be proper up Conte’s road together with his evident means to affect the sport at both finish of the pitch.
One notably glowing efficiency towards arch-rivals Arsenal within the FA Cup noticed two of the Gunners’ legends wax lyrical in regards to the now-Tottenham man – Martin Keown dubbed him a “Rolls-Royce” participant, while Ian Wright instructed his podcast: “I have not seen a combative, technical, swashbuckling performance like that for a very long time.”
So if Conte desires to interrupt the worrying right-back pattern at Tottenham, then he actually must unleash Spence and let him develop within the present system while he’s nonetheless in cost.
It could be the distinction between his tenure heading down the identical path as Mourinho, with no success to point out for it, and him making his personal legacy on the Lilywhites.
AND in different news, Fabrizio Romano: Spurs “explored” 6 ft 3 “extraordinary talent”, Paratici has made a £40m mistake…