Djed Spence was omitted from Tottenham’s 23-man Europa League group-stages squad
Tottenham Hotspur submitted their UEFA Europa League squad for the group stages earlier.
They were forced to name a 23-man squad due to certain UEFA rules and regulations. The 23-man squad for the league phase of the Europa League required eight homegrown players in the roster, four of which needed to be players who have been nurtured in the academy ranks.
It was a real challenge for the Lilywhites to pick the Europa League squad for the group stages. One player being left out of that squad by Ange Postecoglou and Spurs grabbed the headlines, and it was none other than Djed Spence.
The Europa League rules and regulations meant Ange Postecoglou had to omit two senior players. Sergio Reguilon was one, and Djed Spence—rather than veteran goalkeeper Fraser Forster—who was heavily touted to miss out on a place in the squad—was the other. Football London correspondent Alasdair Gold had blasted Big Ange and the club’s decision to omit Spence from the squad for the European adventure.
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Speaking ahead of the high-stakes North London Derby showdown, Postecoglou acknowledged Spence’s situation with regards to the player being omitted from the Europa League squad for the first time. He said the former England youth international has been unfortunate due to the makeup of the squad, but admitted that the right-back should nonetheless play a “huge part” this campaign.
“Look, it was always going to be a difficult decision,” Postecoglou told Football London.
“Obviously with the makeup of our squad currently – you are always going to have to leave somebody out and Djed was the unfortunate one.
“But at the same time, Djed’s already played in the Premier League and, if you asked him at the start of the year where he sees himself, I think the fact that he’s part of our squad and will obviously play a huge part in our year because he has already.
“I don’t think you should take too much disappointment. Obviously everyone wants to play, but in the end, it was about team B for us and we just feel that with the squad we’ve got, we’ve got some cover on the right side.
“[We] got some players you can cover on the left side. I always tend to go for more attacking players in those kind of scenarios, so Djed misses out, but, as I said, he’s already played in you know a couple of games in the Premier League. There will be plenty of football for him if he keeps going like he is.”
Spence has had a rocky time at Spurs ever since arriving from Middlesbrough in July 2022. The full-back spent the last 18 months out on loan at Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa. He has made only six Premier League appearances for the Lilywhites and it wasn’t a long ago that the 24-year-old was being talked about as a potential departure from the White Hart Lane.
However, big credit to Spence for turning it around and getting back in contention after impressing Big Ange and his coaching staff during the pre-season tour of Asia. Leaving him out of the Europa League would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the ex-England youth international.
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The decision Spurs were forced to take on Spence came from bad planning and strategizing for years and not promoting enough club-trained players. In the meantime, Spence will now have to find minutes in domestic cup competitions and the Premier League over the coming weeks and months.
