Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence took aim at former head coach Antonio Conte, revealing his confidence hit a low point during the Italian’s tenure.
“It wasn’t a nice feeling,” Spence said on the ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast’.
“Especially as I was coming to the club on a high, I was confident, I was buzzing, had just won promotion.
“Then it was like running into a brick wall. It shattered my confidence a bit, obviously, I’m young. It’s not nice to hear.
“I knew it was rubbish at the time. It wasn’t a nice feeling. I was even going into the club like [puffs out cheeks] and, ‘What am I doing?’”
“I feel like whatever I did, that man wasn’t happy about anything.
“Even if you did the right things, you were like, ‘Did I do the right thing?’ because he’s not really a complimenting guy.
“It gets to a point where you don’t really need validation from a coach. You just go, ‘Oh’.
“I probably had one conversation with him.”
Spence also admitted his mentality needed a rise after Conte had departed.
“I think I’ve been a victim of being too humble,” he added.
“Thinking things are just going to happen by not doing nothing and not saying nothing. But sometimes you have to express yourself.
“In my first year at Tottenham, I feel I gave a bit too much respect to the players and the surroundings because it’s Tottenham.
“I came from Forest, I’m going to the Premier League, a top-six club, and I thought, ‘Phew, this is big’.
“I feel I gave them too much respect in regards I didn’t really believe in myself.”
Spence also continued, saying: “I’d say this season [that’s changed]. I’ve got no time to waste now. I’ve got to go get it, it’s time.”
