'I think': Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer say whether Djed Spence deserves to play for England right now

03/25/2025 04:55 AM

Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence was actually a fairly high-profile omission from Thomas Tuchel's first England squad given his recent form at club level.

Ange Postecoglou had previously been reluctant to turn to Spence but Tottenham's injury crisis handed the 24-year-old an opportunity, one he's taken with both hands.

Spence has predominantly thrived as a left-back for Spurs this season, even if it's Spain international Pedro Porro who he's been keeping out of the starting XI on the right most recently.

Surprisingly, Ledley King thinks Spence could even play as an attacker – an experiment that Postecoglou seems unlikely to explore just yet.

But the full-back has certainly done enough to at least catch the attention of England's selectors with his performances in defence – he was unlucky to be overlooked for games against Albania and Latvia.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer deliver their Djed Spence verdict

That being said, both Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer delivered their verdict on Spence playing for England on 'The Rest Is Football' podcast.

And whilst the duo had been impressed by the Tottenham defender, they recognised all the competition that currently exists in the England set up.

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Lineker begun: "He’s doing really well. I think he’s got to do it probably for a longer period of time before he breaks into the squad.

"And we’ve suddenly had an emergence of strongly, I suppose, decent full-backs now at present.

"Even on the left now, you’ve got, obviously, Lewis-Skelly and Lewis Hall at Newcastle would probably get an opportunity at some point – he's been brilliant for you a lot, Alan, hasn't he?"

Shearer replied: "I agree. I think it’s really, really unfortunate that we’re really, really strong in those positions. I mean, Kyle Walker came on.

"You’ve got Reece James, you’ve got Trent and as you said, two really good left backs now, so I think we’re all okay in that position.

"But he’s having a good season, you know? And I think it’s right that he actually gets to mention.

"But whether he would get in ahead of those that we mentioned, I’m not sure. Not yet, anyway.

Lineker: "No, but he’s making progress. And he’s started to become a regular in the Tottenham side and that’s the start, and you see where he goes from there."

What is Djed Spence’s strongest position?

Whether he's playing for England or not, Postecoglou will need to determine how best to use Spence moving forward.

Destiny Udogie is now back fit and Porro is also available – a duo who were regarded as Tottenham's strongest.

To take a simplistic view at Spurs' results when Spence starts on either the left or right of Postecoglou's defence this season, the side's win-rate is actually the same.

And it will be interesting to see how Tottenham line up for their crucial Europa League ties against Eintracht Frankfurt next month.

James Maddison has been impressed with Spence this season and it would be a bold call to now drop the full-back.