Wayne Rooney's theory over Djed Spence England incident that was caught on camera
Thomas Tuchel’s England training message to Djed Spence went viral ahead of the World Cup game vs Ghana, and now BBC pundit Wayne Rooney has made his thoughts on the incident perfectly clear
Wayne Rooney has shared his thoughts on the England training ground incident between Thomas Tuchel and Djed Spence(Image: BBC)
Wayne Rooney has admitted he thinks Thomas Tuchel’s training ground incident with Djed Spence was intentional. The England head coach was captured shouting ‘Djed, Djed, Djed wake up! Wake up!’ during a small section of a training session that was in front of the media with Rooney of the belief that Tuchel had planned the interaction.
Speaking about it on the BBC ahead of The Three Lions’ World Cup clash with Ghana, he said: “I think that was intended. I think for Thomas Tuchel, you have the open session, you have the 15 minutes which the press are allowed in for, and very rarely do you see the manager coaching the team in that.
“You see them doing the box playing stuff, but I think that was intended, and that was a message sent to the media and to the fans, but also to his players.”
With the short clip going viral on social media, Spence himself was asked about Tuchel’s comments with the Tottenham star providing a clear response as he heaped praise on the 52-year-old.
Spence told talkSPORT: “It’s normal. He’s a great manager. He wants the best from his players. He demands high standards and for this tournament, we need to be ready, we need to be on it.
“Every session needs to be of the highest quality. That’s what he demands. It’s good. I wouldn’t be the only one he says it to. It’s part of the game.
“I think he’s a great manager, he’s a great guy. Very detailed in what he wants to do. I’ve got great respect for him.
“It’s like what he always says, we’re building a family, we’ve built a brotherhood within the team, everyone has one dream, one brain.
“I think everyone is on the same path. We can do special things. I think he’s built that environment with this squad.”
Djed Spence spoke on the England training incident with Thomas Tuchel
Spence came on in the late stages of England’s opening group game against Croatia and was named from the off for the clash with Ghana, in place of Nico O’Reilly.
Before the game had even started, the Tottenham star was in the headlines as he opted against shaking the hand of Ghana’s Thomas Partey.
The Three Lions were extremely frustrated in the first half by the Black Stars with no shots on target managed in the opening 45 minutes.