Former Watford striker Troy Deeney recently appeared on talkSPORT and was notably blunt when discussing the possibility of England expanding the role of one defender at the World Cup — he admitted outright that he “simply cannot stand watching” this player. The consensus among observers is that he was referring to Jed Spence.
During the 2026 World Cup, it is no secret that the Three Lions are short-handed at the back. The day before the tournament began, Tino Livramento was regrettably withdrawn from the squad; first-choice right-back Reece James, meanwhile, has been troubled by a hamstring injury, the severity of which remains unclear. In the final group-stage match against Panama, centre-back Jarell Quansah was forced to play on the right before being substituted with an ankle injury. As a result, the emergency options on the right appear to be limited to Spence and Ezri Konsa, who has been deployed at centre-back throughout this tournament — and Deeney clearly lacks confidence in one of those choices.
Right back reduced to emergency options
“When we say Spence — he was originally a left-back option — and now he’s being used as a right-back, I just can’t picture it in my head,” Deeney said on the programme. “What I really can’t figure out is why Lewis Hall wasn’t brought on. If Spence really has to play, sorry, I simply can’t stand his defending — I think he switches off far too often.”
This assessment has pushed England’s right-back dilemma into the spotlight. The team is still adopting a cautious approach as it waits on the recovery progress of James and Quansah; if the pair cannot return in time, Spence’s playing time of just 103 minutes across three group matches is likely to increase significantly — with experience on both the right and the left. For a side currently ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, who holds the right-back berth in the knockout stages will be an unavoidable talking point.
Selection logic called into question
Beyond the defensive crisis, the broader debate centers on Thomas Tuchel's squad selections. Dean admitted that he had reservations from the outset about calling up Livramento and James, two full-backs who are "highly talented but whose records show they are prone to injury," while leaving out Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold was also seen by outsiders as a questionable call—the latter has not represented England for more than a year, and Tuchel seemingly will not give him another chance.
"To put Trent to one side—Tuchel won't take him, he's not that type of player for him," Dean said. Even setting aside the Arnold controversy, using centre-back Trevoh Chalobah to fill in for Livramento rather than calling up other specialist right-backs who remained at home also drew criticism.
Tuchel had previously denied that he was deliberately targeting Spence, but Dean's criticism still thrust England's right-back injury crisis and selection approach into the spotlight. For the Three Lions, whether James or Guéhi can return at a crucial juncture will directly determine whether Spence will have to shoulder a heavier workload on the right—and that is precisely the scenario Dean least wants to see.
