Tottenham: Alan Pardew makes tone deaf Djed Spence claim despite England vindication vs Mexico

Tottenham Hotspur's Djed Spence made a big impact for England in their thrilling win against Mexico on Monday.

The Three Lions stuck together to see out a 3-2 win over El Tri at the famed Estadio Azteca, hushing the doubters to book a quarter-final spot.

Mexico had only ever lost two competitive games at the venue in 56 years leading up to the England game, but Spence helped turn that into three.

The full-back played his 10th game of the year for England after coming on for Nico O'Reilly, and made some important tackles in the match.

There has been much controversy regarding Thomas Tuchel's defensive picks, but Spurs fans will know more than anyone that their player has been deserving of his call-up and recent inclusion

However, former Premier League boss Alan Pardew thinks he knows better and has made his claim on Spence at a rather bizarre time.

Alan Pardew says Djed Spence has too many 'scars' to play right-back

Spence has played in each of England's five games at the World Cup so far, making two starts and racking up 189 minutes.

The 25-year-old makes an average of 9.05 defensive contributions every 90 minutes, along with an average of 3.33 tackles per match.

The Tottenham star played just 16 minutes against Mexico, but still made five big clearances, winning 50 per cent of his aerial duels, and making one huge sliding interception.

While speaking on talkSPORT this Monday, Pardew still admits that he's not convinced that Tuchel should be selecting Spence at right-back moving forward.

Pardew said: "He came on for that period at left-back and looked so much better, a round peg in a round hole for me.

"I just think after a period of games in the Premier League, you get confidence in a position, and he has confidence to play there (left-back).

"With the scars he's probably going to take from the right-back position in the last couple of games, I don't think it's a choice."

Though Pardew takes Spence out of his opinion for who should be starting in the position, he put forward Ezri Konsa to do so, despite the Aston Villa man being a natural centre-back.

Konsa did play on the right in the final stages against Mexico, with Spence also on the left, but the latter's defensive work in the box showed he has the IQ to play where is needed.

Tottenham have many reasons to disagree with Pardew.

Main criticism of Spence has no legs to it

Pardew's claim comes at a time when England feels together, especially the players, and there's just no need for it.

Spence vindicated all of Tuchel's defence of him with his short performance against Mexico, as he has other areas of his game that can be appreciated.

It's been suggested that the England international is poor one-on-one, but has a better average than most at the tournament, only being dribbled past an average of 0.48 times per 90 minutes,

Spence has also won 68.8 per cent of his duels up until now, so there's no reason for Tuchel to backtrack and stop using the Tottenham man.

Yes, Spence has played left-back for Spurs, but that's only because of how good Pedro Porro is.

He's already overcome so much adversity, and he'll continue to do so.