It was Djed Spence’s spectacular performances for Nottingham Forest during the club’s successful promotion push that caught Tottenham‘s attention this summer, but as his new club prepares to face his old one on Sunday it seems unlikely that he will be involved at all.
The 22-year-old, signed from Middlesbrough on a five-year deal worth up to £20m, was an unused substitute during Spurs’ 4-1 victory against Southampton on the opening day of the Premier League season and subsequently slipped out of Antonio Conte’s 20-man matchday squad for the draw at Chelsea and win over Wolves. Absences are inevitably more glaring in the age of the super-benches.
The problem for Spence is that his favoured right wing-back position is one of strength and depth for Tottenham. Emerson Royal has started the first three games of the season, with Matt Doherty next in line following his return from a serious knee injury. Add in Lucas Moura who was trialled there during pre-season, the two-footed Ivan Perisic and even Dejan Kulusevski, and Conte has six players able to play in the same role. Even the wing-back whisperer has problems fitting them all in.
Royal’s unexpectedly regular involvement has been the biggest barrier to Spence’s game-time. The Brazilian looked the most obvious casualty of Spence’s arrival given he is a more sellable asset than Doherty and is less efficient than the Irishman in the final third.
But the 23-year-old has started the campaign in decent form and looks to have taken Conte’s tactical instructions on board during the Italian’s first pre-season in charge: Andy Robertson is the only defender in the Premier League to have had more penalty area touches in the opposition box than Royal, who has matched his assist total (of one) from the whole of last season already.
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Tottenham’s overworked midfield pair Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur may disagree, but the wing-backs have the most demanding roles in Conte’s 3-4-3 system. They are expected to drop into the backline when the team is under pressure and form a front five when the team is on the attack. They must be defensively sound, able to contribute goals and assists, and run all day. Those shuttle runs in South Korea will come in handy for those on the flanks.
In a video released by Premier League Productions this week, Conte broke down his expectations for his wide-men further, using Subbuteo players to illustrate his points. He also confirmed a long-held suspicion that he prefers using converted wingers to traditional defenders in those slots.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 23, 2022
“To be competitive, the players have to be good offensively, defensively and find the right balance in both situations”
An insight into the tactical mind of Antonio Conte
Premier League Productions
“The wing backs are really important if you play three at the back,” Conte explained. “These players are very important because it’s not good if they are too defensive. In this position I like to have players who in the past were wingers because in this way they are also good in one vs one.
“I remember very well when I arrived in Chelsea that I started to play with a 4-2-3-1 but when we lost against Arsenal I decided to change and then I discovered [Victor] Moses who played in a fantastic way in that position.
“But it’s the same for Ivan Perisic. Perisic was a winger. In my first season in Inter Milan he wasn’t so convinced in this role. Not 100 per cent. In the first season he struggled a bit and now I think he’s one of the best players in this role.”
On the face of it, Spence has the sort of profile that Conte craves. He contributed two goals and four assists in the Championship last season and is quick, dynamic and physically imposing at 6ft.
If those are the pros, one con is that he tends to be more impactful when using his pace and athleticism to join attacks from a deeper starting position, rather than from a more advanced area where Conte’s wing-backs tend to operate.
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“He just fell more and more down the pecking order and ended up being tried as a winger where he never really looked effective,” Craig Johns, Middlesbrough reporter for the Boro Gazette, told i.
A lack of experience is a more obvious drawback. “Spence is an investment of the club,” stated Conte, whose preference for signing more accomplished players contrasts with ENIC’s long-established policy of buying up-and-coming talent from the lower leagues. Gareth Bale and Dele Alli are the obvious success stories of that strategy, Joe Rodon and Jack Clarke less so. Spence’s good friend Ryan Sessegnon is somewhere in the middle.
While Spence’s lack of game-time may have come as a surprise, it is premature to push the panic button. Perisic is the club’s only summer signing to have started a game and, significantly, he is well accustomed to Conte’s methods.
Spence would have identified an early return to the City Ground as an opportune time to make an imprint as a Spurs player. But it looks as though he will have to bide his time a bit longer before forcing his way into Conte’s plans.
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