Tottenham Hotspur advanced to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Thursday night by beating Manchester United 4-3 at home in a thriller.
The North Londoners are desperate to end their 17-year trophy drought this season, and by eliminating Man United from the Carabao Cup, they are now a step closer to achieving that goal. One of the players that impressed against the Red Devils was Djed Spence.
Djed Spence was making just his first consecutive starts for Tottenham since joining over two years ago from Middlesbrough. The full-back started at left-back in place for Destiny Udogie, who was struggling with fatigue and was taken off in the first half against Southampton in the previous game.
The full-back claimed another assist as he set up Dominic Solanke’s second goal of the cup fixture against Man United, following up from providing the through ball for James Maddison’s opener inside the opening minute at Southampton. It was not just his attacking endeavours that were impressive, Djed Spence was defensively diligent too as he kept both Antony and Noussair Mazraoui quiet for large periods of the game.
Ange Postecoglou faced the media on Friday ahead of Spurs’ acid test at home to Liverpool in the Premier League. He described Spence as “outstanding”, saying he deserved his opportunity and the standing ovation from the fans after being substituted in the 90th minute.
“Brilliant, fantastic. Like I said last week, last week he’s had to bide his time. Probably deserved to play a little bit more, but the situation at the beginning of the year, Archie [Gray] was playing more as a cover for left-back and right-back and he wasn’t registered for Europe so it limited his opportunities. But he kept working hard in training,” Postecoglou told
“It’s not like he’s come in and filled in for us, he’s actually making an impact. He played a great ball into Dom for his goal, but defensively he did an enormous job for us. Physically he’s outstanding. It’s not easy when you’re training and training and don’t get that opportunity. He loved the day he signed for Tottenham. It’s taken him a long time to get out there. To feel the love of the supporters last night, well deserved.”
Tottenham are missing several key players due to injuries, and this has allowed Postecoglou to bring back Spence from the cold. Injuries to Romero, Van de Ven and Davies have opened up space for the 24-year-old. The key for him is to maintain consistency and get better with every game.
Spence has had a difficult time at N17 but now he is being rewarded for his perseverance and hard work. With Liverpool the next visitors, he will want to retain his spot in the starting XI and build on the momentum.
