It would be fair to assume that Djed Spence harbours at least a degree of animosity towards Arsenal as a Tottenham Hotspur player.
Tottenham and Arsenal have one of the most intense rivalries across world football and naturally, the players on both sets of sides buy into the enmity between the North London clubs.
Djed Spence is perhaps no different and even in his side’s 2-1 defeat against the Gunners in December, he was arguably one of the few Spurs players who rose the occasion as he kept Raheem Sterling quiet.
However, Spence knows what comes with being a player and one of the downsides of being in the limelight is being on the receiving end of widespread criticism.
Being an active player, the Lilywhites defender was asked about how he felt about Myles Lewis-Skelly taking aim at Erling Haaland by doing his celebration after scoring in Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City.
Djed Spence backs Myles Lewis-Skelly in Erling Haaland celebration drama
Lewis-Skelly’s celebration is no longer a topic of conversation but at the time, it certainly was.
So much so that Jamie Carragher felt Declan Rice was “disappointed” with Lewis-Skelly for effectively mocking Haaland.
Graeme Souness criticised Lewis-Skelly’s infamous celebration as well and urged the youngster “to wind his neck in.”
But Spence was a huge fan of the Arsenal left-back’s celebration, telling Rio Ferdinand Presents’ YouTube channel: “I loved it man, he’s a bad boy for that, you know what I mean, you know Haaland said to him, ‘Who are you?’ and he let him know who he was.”
“Why not do that? I heard comments of, you know, ‘He’s a young kid, he hasn’t won anything’ but…”
Rio Ferdinand added: “Gary Neville said it’s disrespectful, like what are you talking about?.”
Spence disagreed, defending Lewis-Skelly: “But why’s it disrespectful? It’s just part of the game. When did the game…it’s just a response, me personally, I think that’s the perfect response. So, I loved it, to be fair.”
What Myles Lewis-Skelly is like behind the scenes at Arsenal
While some would have jumped to the conclusion that the 18-year-old was getting too big for his boots, Jack Wilshere called Lewis-Skelly a “natural leader” who is completely focused on his football.
He’s [Lewis-Skelly] the type of person who wants to be in a team, wants to lead, and he has an incredible family around him. That’s important as well, he’d be able to handle that.”
“In the world we live in now, with social media and all these other distractions for players, it’s harder. Some players get distracted, but Ethan and Myles were never like that.”
