Gabby Agbonlahor has urged Antonio Conte to hand Djed Spence a chance to shine in Tottenham Hotspur’s first-team.
The former striker thinks Emerson Royal, who was sent off in the north London derby against Arsenal, is a ‘liability’ and Spence now deserves his shot.
The £20 million (Sky Sports) summer signing has only played one minute of football since moving to the club.
That, ironically enough, came against the club that got him the summer move, when Spurs beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the Premier League.
Royal will be suspended for the weekend clash against Brighton, so is it now a chance for Spence to shine? Or will the hard-to-please Conte look elsewhere?
Well, Agbonlahor shared how the Italian ‘doesn’t trust’ his wing-backs as ‘full-backs’, amid question marks of their boring style of play, as he told talkSPORT.
“He doesn’t trust his fullbacks/wing-backs,” said Agbonlahor. “He just doesn’t trust them.
“I have changed their formation here Spurs to a 4-2-3-1 and Sessegnon at left-back. Spence right-back. He (Conte) is probably looking at that thinking ‘if I played a four, am I too open?’ and ‘am I too open with my full-backs?’.
“He doesn’t like conceding goals. So, he’s not going to change the three centre-halves, play two CBs and two FBs. He’s going to keep that formation. Along as they play that formation, they will suffer, without a number 10 getting on the ball.
“I can’t see him changing the formation with those full-backs. Royal, is he a liability at right-back? At right wing-back, he has three centre-backs that can help. Nor do I think their squad is as good as people think.
“Spence deserves a chance and a start. How is he going to get the experience when he isn’t playing? Is he going to wait for the League Cup? When your right wing-back is getting sent off, and he’s not even doing well defensively, then give him a chance!”
WAS SPENCE CONTE’S SIGNING?
Fabio Paratici is the man who holds Tottenham’s transfer keys and he’s the one who picks up the phone, but in the summer, he didn’t bring Spence to the club.
Prior to the all-action full-back signing, there was talk that Daniel Levy himself was pushing through the deal with Middlesbrough.
Then there were noises about whether Conte wanted the player in the first place given that he had Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty to pick from already.
Well, given that he has only played one minute since, then the signs, so far, aren’t great for the one-time Nottingham Forest loanee.
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