PA Sport journalist George Sessions has said that it might not be completely fair to accuse Djed Spence of having a bad attitude, insisting that it is more of a case of the right-back not being a model professional at Tottenham.
Complaints about his attitude have followed Spence for several years, with Neil Warnock suggesting during his Middlesbrough days that the youngster could find himself in non-league if he does not improve his conduct (The Express).
Those problems reared their head again during the 23-year-old’s spell at Elland Road, with Daniel Farke admitting that Leeds’ decision to terminate the right-back’s loan spell prematurely was down to disciplinary issues (Joe Donnohue).
It has since been suggested by several reporters, including The Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick that Ange Postecoglou has been unimpressed with Spence’s behaviour since pre-season, with there being question marks about his punctuality and his attitude in training (The Standard).
The young full-back has joined Genoa on a loan deal until the end of the season, with the Italian club having the option to sign him permanently for £8.5m in the summer, and it was suggested by The Sun’s Martin Lipton on The Spurs Show a couple of weeks ago that the defender has likely played his final game for the North London side.
Has Djed Spence got a bad attitude?
Sessions has now explained what he has heard about Spence’s behaviour, revealing that the former Boro man was not doing the little things that were expected of him.
When asked about the right-back allegedly having a bad attitude, the journalist said on The Spurs Chat Podcast: “The bad attitude, I’m not sure I’d categorise it as that, I’m not sure that’s fair.
“It’s the professionalism you want, you think of an ultra professional and you think of Harry Kane, he was unbelievable from the smallest to the biggest detail, not everyone is like that, you want a young player to be more like that than less like that, but Djed probably falls into that second category where it’s those small margins he’s not doing enough of.
“I’m not going to sit here and say I’ve heard he has a bad attitude, but I would say there are small things he needs to improve, timekeeping is one and taking on instructions is another but that’s linked to his time under Antonio and his instructions were specific and regimented. He just has to do the other work if he wants to make the most of his potential.”
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What is quite clear is that Spence’s issue is not a lack of talent, with the right-back certainly having the raw ability to be a top Premier League player.
The fact that Ange has decided to offload the 23-year-old without giving him much of a chance suggests that he has noticed something about his personality that makes him a bad fit for the culture he is trying to build at the club.
The fact that Farke has come to the same conclusion lends weight to the reports about Spence’s attitude issues. However, he is still a young man and perhaps he will now sort out his alleged off-field issues after the latest snub.