FIFA World Cup 2026: Scholes urges Tuchel to drop Declan Rice for England's knockout clash

New York [US], June 30 (ANI): Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has urged England head coach Thomas Tuchel to make the bold decision of dropping Declan Rice for the Three Lions’ FIFA World Cup knockout campaign, insisting a more attack-minded approach is needed to compete with tournament favourites France and Argentina.

Despite England topping Group L with seven points, Scholes believes Tuchel’s side have yet to convince. While the Three Lions began with a 4-2 win over Croatia, a goalless stalemate against Ghana and an unconvincing 2-0 victory over Panama exposed what Scholes sees as a lack of attacking intent.

The former Manchester United midfielder argues England must adopt a bolder approach in midfield if they are to challenge World Cup heavyweights France and Argentina.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast as per Goal.com, Scholes said, “England don’t need to play two sitting midfielders in the next game. No disrespect to Congo, but in those types of games, you play as many attackers as possible. I think it has to be a straight shootout between Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, and I think I would just go with Anderson.”

“I think he [Anderson] will pass it forward a bit more. Think about Rice with Arsenal… look, he’s a great player and a great leader, I get all that, and you’d rather have him in your team than not most of the time. But Arsenal didn’t play great football last season either, did they? Rice couldn’t get [Martin] Odegaard in the game, so maybe that’s transferred a bit to England. I don’t think that happens with Anderson, ” he added.

Rice missed England’s final group-stage match against Panama with a calf injury but is expected to return to the starting XI for the Round of 32 clash against DR Congo. (ANI)

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