Thomas Tuchel lost his temper with Djed Spence during England's goalless draw against Ghana in their second World Cup match. The Three Lions head coach, 52, made a bold decision to hand the Tottenham full-back his full World Cup debut, dropping Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly to the bench. Spence, 25, played 65 minutes before being substituted.
Tuchel's outburst caught on camera
Footage from ITV showed Tuchel bellowing 'DJED' at least five times as he struggled to get Spence's attention near the hour mark. There was a tense exchange when Spence turned around, with Tuchel bouncing in frustration before telling him to 'give it and go'. The German then singled out Spence during a three-minute break, urging a response from a lethargic England performance.
Fox reporter Geoff Shreeves, working pitch-side, reported: "Let's be honest, that whole passage of play was a farce wasn't it? The teams wandered over to their coaches during the head injury and Thomas Tuchel was speaking mainly to Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. He kind of said all he needed to say then, and in the actual break, he was not as animated as he normally is. Although he was getting to Djed Spence and looked like he was telling him to get down the flank, he was gesticulating along those lines. He's just given two talks the length of a half-time team talk."
England's attacking struggles
England had 19 shots, with only three on target, but were unable to score against a resolute Ghana defence. Harry Kane missed the best chance, blazing over from inside the box after O'Reilly's header hit the woodwork. The result leaves England top of Group L with four points from two matches, with Panama up next.
Reflecting on the performance, Tuchel said: "I saw it coming, I knew this could be a difficult game. I have hardly seen a team defend so physically and committed like Ghana did, so full credit to them. It was difficult to break them down. You need to be patient and precise and in the right moment, you need to be committed and be brave, but you can never for one second open space for counter-attacks. We conceded, I think, only two and they were very dangerous so we were very aware of that."
Positive signs despite frustration
Tuchel added: "I think at the end of the halves, we grew into it and found the rhythm and, of course, fatigue set in. We were pushing and pushing - I like the attitude. You need a bit of luck. We had enough shots, we had enough crosses, we had enough set pieces to score the first goal. We had a big chance with Harry. They defended so intensely and with so much passion. They were so physical at that point, we knew it would open up the spaces a bit more. And then we had fresh legs - they are a bit more tired and you could see they were dangerous in the wide areas and we couldn’t get over the line."
