Scholes: Drop Declan Rice to Unleash England's Attackers
Paul Scholes has never been one to tiptoe around a big call. This time, his target is Declan Rice.
With England into the World Cup knockouts and a last-32 tie against DR Congo looming on Wednesday, the former Manchester United midfielder believes Thomas Tuchel should do the unthinkable and leave one of his supposed untouchables on the bench.
Scholes: Drop Rice and unleash the attackers
England have done the job on paper. They topped Group L with seven points from nine, opened with a statement 4-2 win over Croatia and then… stalled.
A flat, goalless draw against Ghana. A laboured 2-0 victory over Panama, sealed only after the hour mark. Tuchel’s side are winning, but they’re hardly sweeping anyone away.
Rice missed the Panama game, officially because of an ongoing injury concern and the risk of suspension after a yellow card against Ghana. The expectation is that he walks straight back into the XI against DR Congo. Scholes would slam that door shut.
“England don’t need to play two sitting midfielders in the next game,” he said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. “No disrespect to Congo but in those type 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.”
That is not a casual throwaway line. Rice is widely regarded as one of the best and most reliable midfielders in the game, a cornerstone for Arsenal and England. Scholes recognises that, yet still feels the balance is wrong.
“I think he will pass it forward a bit more,” Scholes said of Anderson. “Think about Rice with Arsenal… look, he’s a great player and a great leader, I get all that, and you’d rather 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.”
The criticism cuts at something deeper than one selection. It questions whether England’s midfield structure is suffocating their creators and slowing their play at the very moment knockout football demands clarity and incision.
Concerns over England’s World Cup credentials
Scholes’ doubts don’t stop with Rice. His view of England’s group-stage body of work is stark.
“It wasn’t great, was it?” he said of the Panama win. Across the three games, he simply hasn’t seen a side that looks ready to go all the way.
“Across the three games I don’t think I’ve seen a team that will win the World Cup,” he admitted. “It hasn’t been great but look, they could get better and they’re winning games and I do think they’ve got match winners in the team.
“I just don’t think they’re at the level of France or Argentina yet.”
That is the backdrop to this Rice-Anderson debate: a team winning without convincing, a manager searching for the right blend, and former players wondering if England are playing within themselves.
Butt backs Rice but agrees on one holder
Not everyone from that Manchester United midfield era would go as far as Scholes. Nicky Butt, his old club and England teammate, also wants Tuchel to pick only one “sitting midfielder” – but for him, Rice is the one you build around, not leave out.
“You can’t play two sitting midfielders against teams who aren’t going to have any of the possession,” Butt said.
“I’d definitely play Declan Rice in the next game so I would leave Elliot Anderson out.
“I think he’s been brilliant and is a top, top, top player which is why Man City have gone and paid £120m for him.
“I just don’t think you can leave Declan Rice out. He’s one of those players you just don’t leave out.”
Two former teammates, one clear point of agreement: England cannot afford to be cautious against a DR Congo side expected to spend long spells without the ball. The argument is over who pays the price for that shift.
Anderson, the Nottingham Forest midfielder on the verge of a £116m move to Manchester City, has impressed enough to turn heads at club level and among ex-pros. Scholes sees him as the progressive passer England need. Butt sees him as the man who, for now, has to wait.
DR Congo next – and a selection fault line
DR Congo arrive in the last 32 having finished third in Group K, beating Uzbekistan, drawing with Portugal and losing to Colombia. On paper, this is the kind of tie England should control. That is precisely why the debate over two holding midfielders has flared.
Tuchel’s challenge is clear. Stick with the security blanket of Rice plus another sitter, or gamble on extra attacking thrust and trust one anchor to cope?
Scholes would rip the plaster off and back Anderson. Butt would lean on Rice’s stature and experience. Tuchel has to choose a side – and the knockout phase is no place for half-measures.
