Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has impressed for both club and country in recent months, but not everyone has been convinced by his performances. Former Watford striker Troy Deeney has questioned the full-back’s defensive qualities despite his encouraging displays for England at the World Cup.
Spence started England’s goalless draw against Ghana after earning a place in Thomas Tuchel’s squad following an excellent Premier League campaign with Spurs, where he made 30 league appearances last season. The 25-year-old has already featured for 76 minutes during the tournament and could now be in line for another start against Panama.
England will be without Reece James after the Chelsea defender suffered a hamstring injury, leaving Tuchel with limited options at right-back. While Spence’s natural position makes him the obvious candidate, Deeney believes England should have selected another option instead.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Deeney questioned the idea of moving Spence across to right-back and suggested Lewis Hall should have been included in the squad. He also claimed Spence is unreliable defensively, despite acknowledging his attacking strengths.
However, the statistics paint a different picture. England conceded twice before Spence entered the field during the opening victory over Croatia but remained defensively solid after his introduction. Against Ghana, Spence started at left-back and helped England keep a clean sheet, winning every one of his ground duels while completing 96 percent of his passes.
His defensive impact was equally impressive, with England allowing just 0.17 expected goals against Ghana during his time on the pitch. By comparison, the team conceded 0.70 expected goals and two actual goals in the period he did not feature. Last season in the Premier League, Spence was dribbled past only 10 times, underlining his reputation as one of England’s strongest one-on-one defenders.
Although he has made only eight appearances for the Three Lions, Spence has quickly looked comfortable at international level and continues to grow in confidence.
With James unavailable, Tuchel now has a clear opportunity to restore Spence to his preferred right-back role against Panama while deploying Nico O’Reilly on the left. After earning a solid 7.0 FotMob rating against Ghana, the Tottenham defender has done enough to justify another place in the starting lineup.
