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Player Djed Spence

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Mostly wrong said:
Wouldn't mind seeing Porro pushed up to right wing and Djed coming in behind Porro against the more well-drilled teams that sit deep in the league, I think Porro provides much more threat with his pinpoint crossing out wide than Johnson does trying to cut inside, also there's never anyone there for those passes across the 6 yard box when the box itself is packed, we have an aerial threat in Solanke to aim at now, never made more sense to try Porro further forward. He's not perfect but Djed is a lot more defensively sound than Porro as well IMO, he has the physicality to mix it with opposition wingers and recovery pace in spades, crucially I'd just like to see him rotated into the side more, its ridiculous how little rotation Porro and Udogie have had given the physical demands of that position, particularly in this system and in the modern game in a wider sense, it's hard to sympathise much with Ange and the coaching team for the current injury crisis given we've had the option to rotate in certain positions for a while where we have seen a significant drop-off in form or persistent injuries, particularly across the back line. However shit they may be it's always better to use your full squad, particularly with 50+ games in the calendar without even thinking about international fixtures, it's just frustrating Ange seems to be being forced into using his squad which is shining a light on the fact that we have probably been as poor as we have lately in large part due to fatigue. It's no surprise to me some of the brightest players in the team of late are some of the only players who have had a chance to rest (Maddison in particular has looked phenomenal lately, coincidentally right after that period where he was intermittently being benched and taken off around 60-70 mins for a few weeks).
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Paragraphs are your friend! :mourbye:
 
Airfixx said:
Regardless of any prevailing pecking order, he simply must start at RB in the prem on every Europa League week.

Criminal if not.

A fresh Porro for every EL game is a luxury we should absolute take advantage of.
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Agree with the logic but man management doesn’t always work like that,

Porro will want to start as many games as he can and whilst he can’t argue right now that he’s knackered, the balance gets more difficult when he’s not.
 
The thing is, people were buzzing about Spence after pre season, then after Coventry - why are we only seeing more of him now.

His ability has never been a problem, his attitude according to Colin Wanker has been a problem in the past. Conte hung him out to dry and Ange seemingly had little interest up until now - why he wasn’t in the Europa squad is baffling.

I think he has finally matured, the penny has dropped and now we’re seeing what he can do
 
Airfixx said:
Man management is a massive part of the job. The tail shouldn't be allowed to wag the dog.

.....Esp. as Porro is far from a Ronaldo-like presence.
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Not about tails wagging dogs, it’s about getting the best out of your players.

Djed’s doing great and given us a massive rotation option we didn’t have. No reason he can’t fight for the main starting role as the season progresses but you don’t force that when Porro has been your main man at RB for 2 seasons
 
Richard Arlison said:
He’s a smug cunt, he probably isn’t fussed by whoever we put out. Slits Liverpool will 100% be coming into this game with a “Lads it’s Tottenham” mentality. Carragher was banging on about how he always assumed he’d won already before playing us in the cups
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You think Slot is smug? So far I don't get that vibe, I'm actually very surprised at how quiet, serious and professional he is. Saw bits of his time at Feyenoord and thought he was more of the relaxed, chilled out and smiling clown type.
 
Spursidol said:
His performance last night should really make anyone in football question Conte and his assessment of spence as a Club signing (identified by a professional Director of Football and expert in scouting/transfers) not worthy of even giving the players any playing time before discarding him.

Its really all about Conte's lack of player management skills if there were issues with lack of maturity, time keeping etc - there will be players out there with far worse issues to manage.

Really pleased to see Spence showing precisely what he can offer the team as LB or RB
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Steve Harvey Reaction GIF


How in the hell have you managed to make this about Conte when Ange has barely played him in 18 months either and only done so out of pure desperation for bodies???
 
Everyone around me was praising his performance last night. Strong, aggressive and just seemed to be switched on throughout the match both in attack and defence. Huge difference between the way he handled his defensive remit and the way Porro did his - with Spence apparently understanding the dynamic between him and his LCB and LDM pairings far better in terms of positioning.
 
People talk about attitude, but was that the reason Conte didn't play him? I assumed Conte froze him out as a message to Levy, not playing the "club signing."

I don't really give a fuck what the player is like off the pitch, assuming they aren't breaking the law or harming themselves or others. If they do the business when it counts, that's all that matters.
 
meaningless-friendly said:
People talk about attitude, but was that the reason Conte didn't play him? I assumed Conte froze him out as a message to Levy, not playing the "club signing."

I don't really give a fuck what the player is like off the pitch, assuming they aren't breaking the law or harming themselves or others. If they do the business when it counts, that's all that matters.
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100% - I believe Conte used Spence to dig at Levy. Spence got used as a pawn. Pretty f'ed up but there's a reason people think Conte is a cunt. At some point, Conte figured out Levy is a waste of time and just started lashing out.

But as far as his man management skills - Conte has won a Premier League trophy, FA Cup and 4 Scudettos so he obviously knows what he’s doing … doesn’t change the fact that he’s a cunt of course.
 
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Seems like a typical case of inertia to me.

Managers don't like chopping and changing, as they assume that stability has a certain inherent value in it. So, even if a player lower on the pecking order starts, or has a potential to start, outperforming someone above him, he may not get the nod outright. Unless and until he proves that he's actually a significant improvement, manager will probably continue giving the edge to higher ranked player.

Basically, they don't perceive it as making a straight-up choice between two alternatives. Rather, they look at it to see whether the difference between two players is big enough to justify a change. If they don't see it they'd rather carry on with the status quo.

So, I don't think Ange has a personal vendetta against him. Nor do I believe that there is something wrong with Spence.
 
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