Tottenham Hotspur has released its official squad list for the opening league stage of the 2024-25 Europa League, and the biggest news is the omission of Djed Spence from the team.
First, here’s the full squad list, taken from the Europa League’s website.
Goalkeepers
- Guglielmo Vicario
- Fraser Forster
- Brandon Austin
- Alfie Whiteman
Defenders
- Radu Dragusin
- Destiny Udogie
- Cristian Romero
- Pedro Porro
- Ben Davies
- Micky van de Ven
Midfielders
- Son Heung-Min
- Yves Bissouma
- James Maddison
- Archie Gray
- Lucas Bergvall
- Dejan Kulusevski
- Brennan Johnson
- Wilson Odobert
- Pape Sarr
- Rodrigo Bentancur
Forwards
- Richarlison
- Timo Werner
- Dominic Solanke
So that’s 23 squad players out of a possible 25 that Tottenham could’ve included. I’ve been banging on that Spurs were free to just name a smaller Europa squad and it’d be fine, it’s not a big deal, and I do hold to that opinion. Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman are the only two eligible club-trained players, so that does reduce Spurs’ squad size down to 23. Note that this squad list does NOT include any of the List B players, such as Mikey Moore, Will Lankshear, Tyrese Hall, or any of the other U21 squad members, which Spurs will presumably use to flesh out the team as needed.
But the biggest thing that leaps out at me is the omission of Djed Spence and the inclusion of a fourth goalkeeper, especially Fraser Forster who somehow still has a place in this squad. I don’t get it, honestly. Maybe I’m missing something — UEFA’s squad rules are deliberately Byzantine and difficult to understand, and yes I’ve read Matty’s squad construction article numerous times and tried my best to internalize it.
Tottenham needed to name at least three keepers in their Europa squad, but they listed four, and instead sacrificed fullback depth in Spence for… reasons? I suppose that means that we’ll see a lot more of Ben Davies and Archie Gray at right back if and when Ange Postecoglou decides to rotate or due to injuries, but what was the point of bringing Djed back into the fold if he’s not going to get a chance in the early stages of the Europa League? It’s baffling.
I get it’s a tough decision. Both Gray and Lucas Bergvall haven’t been at the club for two years so they can’t be included in List B, meaning they have to be registered as List A squad players. That forces Spurs’ hand somewhat, but it feels baffling to sacrifice fullback depth for a fourth keeper who almost certainly won’t play and who takes the place of a homegrown and association-trained fullback who would likely get plenty of action. It also essentially means Archie Gray will be the backup at both RB and the 6 position until Spurs get a chance to revise their squad should they qualify out of the League Stage and into the knockouts.
Many of these issues will be resolved in a year or so as the younger players brought in by Johan Lange age into the full squad and qualify for both club- and association-trained status, but that won’t help this year’s squad. Still it behooves Spurs to put together the most balanced squad they can, and I can’t imagine that it didn’t include Djed Spence. It basically means that Ange Postecoglou thinks that having Forster as a fourth keeper provides more value to the team than a backup fullback. Just a strange decision, but I don’t make the decisions.
