Do y’all remember a time when Tottenham Hotspur used to get nominated for Premier League monthly awards? It’s only been a few months, but those fallow months also coincided with a severe Spurs injury crisis and a subsequent drop in form.
Well wake up, babe — the Premier League monthly award nominations are back! The League announced that Djed Spence was nominated for Player of the Month for February, Ange Postecoglou was nominated for Manager of the Month, and Dejan Kulusevski’s spectacular goal against Ipswich was nominated for Goal of the Month.
It’s been so long! They practically bring a tear to my eye.
Spence’s nomination is maybe the most surprising, and the most gratifying, as it recognizes how well he’s been playing for Spurs since breaking into the first team squad earlier this season. He’s up against Everton striker Beto, Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, and the Liverpool duo of Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai. I have no real idea how realistic it is that Djed wins the award — probably unlikely considering Salah’s on it and Mateta’s been on a goal-scoring tear recently. But hey, this is pretty dang huge for Djed and for Tottenham, and is a real reflection on his recent performances and attitude in recent weeks. I’m biased, but I’d say he’s got the poll Djed to rights.
Elsewhere, Postecoglou has been nominated for Manager of the Month, along with Palace’s Oliver Glasner, Everton’s David Moyes (I still feel I’m back in 2010 whenever I type that), Fulham’s Marco Silva, and Liverpool’s Arne Slot.
Kulusevski also got a nod for Goal of the Month for his ridiculous strike against Ipswich a few weeks ago. He’s up against Salah, Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri, Everton’s James Tarkowski, Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma, Wolves’ Matheus Cunha, Palace’s Daniel Munoz, and Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert.