Roy Keane has bit back at Gary Neville’s opinion that Djed Spence will start for England at the 2026 World Cup.
Spence became England’s first Muslim player when he earned his first call-up for The Three Lions earlier this season.
This came after Spence became a crucial player for Thomas Frank due to Destiny Udogie being sidelined for a number of weeks.
The England international has continued to receive regular minutes even with Udogie’s return, which demonstrates his importance this period.
There is no doubt that Spence will want to continue performing well for Tottenham to be in with a chance of being named in Thomas Tuchel‘s World Cup squad.
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Roy Keane makes damning assesment of Djed Spence
Just as he does for Tottenham, Neville believes that Spence could start for Tuchel at the World Cup.
His declaration came when discussing the prospect with Keane on The Overlap on 20 November.
However, Keane believes that one of Nico O’Reilly, Myles Lewis-Skelly or Tino Livramento should start over the Tottenham full-back.
“I think he’s going for Spence,” Neville said.
“When push comes to shove in a proper game. His centre-backs are probably some of the weakest in the team, I would probably say. I think he’s going to go for a more solid back four with Spence tucking in,” he continued.
“Well, you said Spence is a solid player. He’s not that solid,” Keane countered.
“I think he’s more solid and stable than the other three,” Neville responded.
“No chance,” said Keane, who was having none of what the former Manchester United star had to say.
“As footballers, all three of them are better players than Spence. I just think that when it comes to the tournament, I think if you said to him to just stick to someone who’s a good right winger for another team, I think he may put him in a game where push comes to shove,” Neville stated.
O’Reilly has been excellent for club and country this season, but he is still quite young and inexperienced.
Meanwhile, Spence has years of experience playing at the top level and has been consistent for the Lilywhites this season. As such, Neville’s take on the debate has a little more substance to it.
How has Djed Spence performed for England?
Spence remained on the bench for England during their FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
Tuchel could simply prefer O’Reilly’s profile. However, the Spurs star was excellent for England during their previous games against Serbia and Latvia.
Furthermore, Spence’s chip passes were 100 per cent accurate, and he averaged 62.5 touches, according to Sofascore. He also recovered 1.5 balls and made 1.0 interceptions per game.
These are impressive stats, considering he averaged 56 minutes across both confrontations.
Meanwhile, O’Reilly also made 1.5 tackles but only recorded 0.5 clearances per game. His chip passes were also 50 per cent accurate.
Spence is unique in that he is equally as efficient as a left-back or right-back, which will come in handy for Tuchel.
Thus, Neville was absolutely spot on in his comments. As the more experienced and versatile full-back, Spence should start at the World Cup.