Scholes urges Tuchel to drop Declan Rice for England's World Cup knockout game

Despite England securing first place in Group L with seven points, Scholes remains unimpressed with their performances. 

After an initial 4-2 win against Croatia, the team's momentum stalled with a goalless draw against Ghana and a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Panama. 

Scholes contends that the team's conservative midfield setup is preventing them from reaching the level required to win the tournament.

The legendary midfielder has argued that the Three Lions must adopt a more attacking strategy to challenge elite teams like France and Argentina.

Rice sat out the final group match against Panama with a calf problem but is expected to be fit for the round of 32 clash with DR Congo. 

However, Scholes has questioned whether the Arsenal midfielder offers the forward-thinking play that England currently needs.

Speaking on 'The Good, The Bad & The Football' podcast, Scholes stated, "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."

The former England international elaborated on his reasoning: "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."