I don’t think anyone expected there to be any Tottenham Hotspur representation within the England World Cup squad this summer, but — surprise! To the shock of many, Djed Spence, He With the Broken Jaw, has been named to Thomas Tuchel’s final squad, at the expense of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whom most people expected to get a seat on the plane.
OK, so there’s a LOT to unpack from this roster. First of all — congrats to Djed Spence, who at this point in his career has only four England caps but will play in a World Cup and likely will get some good minutes as well. Second — and I admit to not really being a big England Watcher™ — setting aside some weird inclusions over established stars (Ivan Toney! Jarell Quansah! Tino Livramento!) this team looks WILDLY defensive and set up to basically defend and meatwall on corners and set pieces. I’m not sure how good this England team is, but I have a strong suspicion the football they’re going to play is going to be awful to watch.