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Thomas Tuchel has held back from calling out his England players at the World Cup and Djed Spence had to face his anger - and not for the first time this tournament

England boss Thomas Tuchel again lamented Djed Spence with pitchside mics catching his latest blast at the Three Lions right-back.

Spence has had the unenviable role of playing right where the technical area is based, meaning he is often the closest person to Tuchel with his decisions being made right in front of the England boss.

For more than an hour England's World Cup clash against DR Congo was not going to plan with the Africans taking an early lead and threatening a major Round of 32 upset. Tensions were reaching boiling point and Spence had to cop it from his manager.

One occasion saw Spence take a throw, but send it backwards, which didn't go down well with the German, who wanted to see him be more progressive. He screamed: "Djed! There [forward] is one on one! Play up front!"

Tuchel continued to ring the changes in the second-half as he sought to alter the direction of the game and his patience seemed to end with Spence. After one moment where Spence gave away possession Tuchel immediately called for Eberechi Eze, who replaced the Tottenham full-back with 20 minutes left.

Tuchel cutting an animated figure has been a feature of the World Cup. It was very apparent during England's first match against Croatia and during the goalless draw with Ghana - where Spence was again on the receiving end.

Wednesday night's clash ultimately ended in victory for England, who have now set up a last 16 clash with Mexico as their World Cup dream remains alive. Harry Kane's two goals helped save the Three Lions, with his second drawing huge plaudits as the frontman continues to underline himself as one of the world's best.

The brace keeps Kane firmly in the hunt for the World Cup Golden Boot and Tuchel believes the world's top frontmen are driving each other on.

He said: "These big guys at this World Cup, do they watch each other? And then they go 'not with me, then I score, then I do a hat-trick, then you go'. What is going on? Crazy.

"Harry is so, so good. He's our captain. He's our leader. He decides football matches with unbelievable finishes and did it here twice. The second one was just a brilliant goal."

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