In an interview with ITV after England’s dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico in the World Cup last 16, Djed Spence was asked whether Thomas Tuchel is tougher on him than anyone else in the squad.With a chuckle, Spence replied, “Yes”. Having watched Tuchel scream Spence’s name from the sidelines during the 0-0 draw with Ghana, or maniacally bark at him for not throwing the ball forward in the 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo, his response was hardly surprising. But what Spence said next is a better reflection of their relationship and why he is thriving in an England shirt at the World Cup under the German.“He likes me, I guess,” Spence said when ITV journalist Gabriel Clarke asked why Tuchel continues to single him out. “Perspectives. It depends how you want to look at it.“Maybe he believes I can do more. Maybe he believes I can reach new heights, new levels.”From the outside, Tuchel’s critical fixation on Spence may appear unfair, or even slightly nasty. But the 25-year-old has experienced the exact opposite at club level, causing his career to meander and stall for several years before rebuilding momentum over the past 18 months at Tottenham Hotspur, and Tuchel’s tough love is proving precisely what he needs.Jude Bellingham embraces Spence at the end of England’s victory over Norway (Masashi Hara/Getty Images)Spence emerged into the national footballing conscience in early 2022, when he was electric as his then-Championship Nottingham Forest beat Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup. In front of a terrestrial television audience on ITV, a 21-year-old Spence was outstanding as a right wing-back for Steve Cooper’s Forest, earning the man-of-the-match award and plaudits from Arsenal legend Ian Wright. Wright was recorded on the pitch after the game telling Spence, “You’re supposed to be in the Premier League. You can’t play at that level and not be in the Premier League”.He was outstanding as Forest marched to promotion to the English top division via the play-offs, and celebrated with a post on X pointed at former head coach Neil Warnock, who sent him on loan to Forest from his parent club Middlesbrough after a dispute. Warnock questioned his attitude and aptitude at the Riverside Stadium, suggesting he’d either play in the Premier League or in non-League (the fifth tier of English football and below), but he appeared to put those criticisms to bed over a stellar season at the City Ground.In celebrating promotion, Spence posted an image on Twitter of him holding the play-off trophy with a cigar in his mouth, captioned “Oh, Where’s my Manners! Welcome to Twitter @warnockofficial,” after his former boss had recently joined the social media site.He had plenty of suitors in the summer of 2022 after returning to Middlesbrough from his loan spell at the City Ground, eventually joining Tottenham for around £20million, marking a return to London after growing up in the south of the nation’s capital. But if Forest served as an environment where Spence was cared for and nurtured, he found no such love in north London under new head coach Antonio Conte.