Djed Spence was at fault for Bournemouth’s opening goal in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday
Tottenham Hotspur showed great character and grit to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth at home on Sunday in the Premier League.
The Cherries pressed brilliantly against the home side, causing the Lilywhites all kinds of problems at the back. They were the much better side and were deservedly two goals ahead on 66 minutes. However, Pape Matar Sarr’s freak cross cum long-range strike and a late Son Heung-min penalty rescued the day for a sub-par Spurs side.
Defensively, Tottenham were all over the place at times as Cristian Romero looked very rusty on his injury return, while the central midfielders made wrong decisions on and off the ball. Thus, the North London side will need to put in a much better display when they host AZ Alkmaar for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou’s position at the club would come under further scrutiny if Spurs don’t overturn the 1-0 deficit. And the Tottenham gaffer, who is under palpable pressure, has been urged to make a brave call and drop Djed Spence from the XI against AZ Alkmaar after his costly mistake on Sunday.
Djed Spence has been Spurs’ best player over the last two months
This is the view of ex-Spurs scout Bryan King who wishes to see a backline without Djed Spence in it against the Eredivisie side on Thursday evening.
“I must admit Spence was asleep for the first goal,” Bryan King exclusively told Tottenham News.
“It was a great ball in from Kerkez, and a great finish. However, I think Spence should have done a lot better defensively. He was caught ball watching, and you don’t want too much of that in the game coming up.
“Therefore, I would like to see a back four of Porro, Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie, which would see Spence make way.”
Spence was partly at fault for Bournemouth’s opening goal on Sunday. He was caught napping at the far post, which allowed Marcus Tavernier to slam home Kerkez’s mouthwatering cross from the left in the box. It was uncharacteristic of the former England youth international, who has been the club’s best performers over the last couple of months.
Bryan King has told Big Ange to drop Djed Spence vs AZ Alkmaar
Having been frozen out of the squad during the initial months of the 2024/25 campaign, a glut of injuries at the back forced Big Ange to reintegrate Spence into his squad. Since then, the 24-year-old has shown the mentality and grit to turn things around at Tottenham. He has now become one of the first names on Big Ange’s team sheet, which demonstrates the renaissance in form the full-back has enjoyed.
There is no denying the fact that Spence should have done better to stop Tavernier from scoring Bournemouth’s first goal. Fortunately, the home side did recover from 2-0 down to pinch a point. However, it is bizarre from King to ask the gaffer to drop Spence—Spurs’ best player by a long mile of late—from his XI for undoubtedly the biggest game of the season this week.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
Tottenham have to beat AZ Alkmaar by hook or crook to keep Big Ange’s hopes of winning a trophy in his second season alive, and having Spence in the team will only increase their chances of advancing to the Europa League quarter-finals.