After a brilliant cameo against Norway, Djed Spence could star in a new role for England.
That’s the view of ex-Premier League striker Tony Cascarino and former England international Micky Gray.
The Three Lions set up an enormous World Cup semi-final against Argentina with a 2-1 win over the Norwegians after extra time in the stifling Miami heat.
It wasn’t pretty but Thomas Tuchel’s men got the business done with Declan Rice battling to play 45 minutes despite sickness, and a host of stars struggling for stamina under the sun.
One man who shone, though, was Tottenham star Spence, who has been linked with a transfer to Everton.
He entered the fray after 85 minutes and then helped England through the extra 30 minutes.
It wasn’t just his defensive output that impressed, despite limiting the bright Oscar Bobb.
Conversation turned to Spence as they discussed his marauding run that initially earned England a penalty.
He tangled with Bobb but referee Clement Turpin was sent to review the incident, subsequently reversing the decision as he felt the versatile full-back initiated the contact.
Queried about the penalty, former England star Gray said: “I think in normal play, I thought it was a penalty all day long.
“But then obviously with VAR, and we see it every single game, don’t we? You can see Djed Spence has reached his right leg right across the defender, and then he’s gone to ground.
“I think that’s where you’ve got the speculation of was it, or was it not a penalty.
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“As soon as VAR got involved in that, and then you see the slowed down pictures of him reaching his right leg across, I think. initially, straight away, I said this is going to be rescinded. And obviously it was. So it was a bit bizarre.”
However, the run itself got Gray and Cascarino considering if Spence could be utilised in another capacity for England.
The ex-Chelsea striker replied: “It’s so easy to run across someone’s line. If you just take a step sideways, and you initiate a challenge, and you go over, that’s what I thought Djed Spence did.
“And just one point I’d like to add on Djed Spence is that Djed Spence looks like, to me, the most natural winger. Not as a full-back.
“I think he looks such a dangerous winger because he’s so quick and direct. And I actually feel like, Thomas, you could use Djed further up the pitch quite comfortably.”
“Yeah, I think you’ve got a point there,” Gray replied. “He looked excellent when he came on the pitch yesterday. We know he’s got that turn of pace. We know he’s got them recovery runs in him. And he’s certainly going to need them against a side like Argentina.
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“He nearly got himself a goal as well, didn’t he, when he closed down the goalkeeper? He looked absolutely fantastic.
“There’s been question marks, you know, should you have actually taken Djed Spence? Well, I think he put that to bed yesterday with the performance that he put in when he came onto the pitch.
“Again, his energy levels were excellent. He was getting up the pitch when he needed to. I’m not quite sure if he’s got a great end-product.
“I think that’s maybe one of the things that he got missing from his game. But there’s no question about his energy levels, being able to take on a defender, if he is asked to do that job.
“I’m not sure that Thomas Tuchel will actually start Djed Spence as a winger. But I get your point in that, when you get into the latter stages of a game, for the last 15, 20 minutes, if he’s got any concerns of maybe changing one of his wide players, I wouldn’t have a worry at all of putting Djed Spence into one of those positions because of that pace that he’s got.
“That’s a threat that you’ve seen the top sides have got in this competition.
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“Obviously, France I’m talking about now. They make changes and every player that they bring on, they look as if they could run the 100 metres in about 11 seconds. It’s incredible.”
It’s not a role that will be unfamiliar to Spence either.
In his final game of last season against Everton, with Tottenham fighting to avoid relegation, he was picked ahead of Randal Kolo Muani at right-wing.
Not only did he provide forward momentum with his pace, he also offered defensive stability when the Toffees attacked.
With his help, Spurs ground out a 1-0 win and secured their place in the Premier League next season.
A similar role could see England into the World Cup final where they will take on the winner of France vs Spain.
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