The celebrations for Djed Spence's first Premier League goal said it all. A key player for Ange Postecoglou since coming into the Tottenham team, the versatile full-back was mobbed by his teammates in front of the travelling away faithful.
Spence deserved that moment and there may be a few more celebrations to come if he continues to excel in the Spurs side and perhaps even take his game to an even greater level. Equally adept now playing as a right-back or left-back, his goal against Ipswich Town all came from a positive run down the left flank.
The 24-year-old then teamed up with James Maddison, who in turn picked out his teammate after some lovely footwork in the box. Spence did the rest as he took two touches of the ball before finding the back of the net via a Luke Wolfenden deflection.
He immediately raced over to the away fans, slid on his knees and covered his face with his hands before he was greeted by the rest of the Tottenham team. The joy of his teammates was perfectly encapsulated in one photo as Pedro Porro could be seen screaming in the face of his fellow full-back at a time when he had both hands on Spence's head.
The ex-Nottingham Forest loanee's Tottenham turnaround has been quite remarkable and one of the stories of the season in N17. It may indeed culminate in the ultimate reward as Spence must surely be in contention to make Thomas Tuchel's first England squad next month.
There are very few English full-backs playing better than him right now and many connected with Spurs will no doubt believe that he should be rewarded with his maiden Three Lions call-up. If that is to be the case early next month, it would be richly deserved and a sign of how far he has come at Tottenham in such a short space of time.
Spence still has a further five opportunities to stake his place for an England spot as Tottenham have Premier League showdowns against Manchester City, Bournemouth and Fulham as well as a Europa League double-header against AZ Alkmaar to come before the first international break of 2025. Tuchel starts life as England boss on home soil with World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium.
In terms of the players who can play in Spence's natural right-back role in the England team, Trent Alexander-Arnold will be leading the way to start and Rico Lewis and Tino Livramento could well be selected once again. Tuchel may also have a call to make over Reece James, who was previously a key member of his Chelsea team, as the 25-year-old has since returned to fitness amid his previous injury woes that have really limited his game time in recent seasons.
On the other side of the pitch, Spence has proved he is more than capable of playing from the left as that's where the vast majority of his football has come under Postecoglou. Newcastle United left-back Lewis Hall is certainly someone who will be under consideration and the same goes for Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly after an outstanding breakthrough season at the Emirates Stadium.
The perennially overlooked Tyrick Mitchell could possibly finally get his chance under Thomas Tuchel after only making two appearances for Gareth Southgate despite excelling for Crystal Palace on a regular basis. Chelsea's Levi Colwill is another option at left-back, although the youngster will be hoping to become a permanent part of the backline at centre-back.
Whether or not Spence gets the call-up for England duty next month remains to be seen. The fact that he should be in the conversation just shows the great strides he has made for Tottenham during the 2024/25 season.
Keep performing the way he does for his club and it could be a no-brainer for Tuchel in 2025 as he plots his England masterplan.
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