Paul Scholes Calls for Declan Rice to Be Dropped for England's World Cup Clash

Paul Scholes has never been one to tiptoe around a big call. This time, his gaze has fallen on one of England’s untouchables.

The Manchester United legend believes Thomas Tuchel should drop Declan Rice for England’s World Cup last‑32 clash with DR Congo, arguing the Arsenal midfielder is surplus to requirements in a game he expects England to dominate.

Scholes: Rice or Anderson – not both

England arrive in the knockouts with seven points from nine, top of Group L but hardly purring. A vibrant 4-2 win over Croatia in the opener gave way to a flat stalemate with Ghana and a laboured 2-0 victory over Panama that only came to life after the hour mark.

Rice sat out that Panama match, nursing an ongoing injury issue and protected from suspension after a booking against Ghana. He is widely expected to walk straight back into Tuchel’s XI on Wednesday night.

Scholes would resist that temptation.

“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.

“I think he will pass it forward a bit more.”

That is the crux of Scholes’ argument: risk versus reward, control versus incision. Against a DR Congo side that finished third in Group K after beating Uzbekistan, drawing with Portugal and losing to Colombia, he wants England to lean into their firepower, not their safety net.

Arsenal question marks, England implications

Scholes did not question Rice’s stature. He called him “a great player and a great leader” and admitted you would want him in your side “most of the time”. But he pointed to Arsenal’s struggles to consistently spark last season as a warning sign.

“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,” Scholes said.

“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.”

For Scholes, Elliot Anderson’s willingness to punch passes through the lines, to play forward early, tilts the balance in his favour for this specific tie. The message is clear: against opponents unlikely to dominate the ball, England should strip away one layer of protection and replace it with another attacking mind.

‘I haven’t seen a team that will win the World Cup’

Scholes’ concerns stretch beyond one selection call. His assessment of England’s group-stage performances was blunt.

“It wasn’t great, was it?” he said of the Panama win.

“Across the three games I don’t think I’ve seen a team that will win the World Cup.

“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.”

Tuchel, chasing the end of 60 years of hurt on American soil, has found results but not yet a rhythm that convinces old pros like Scholes. The tension between solidity and spark sits right at the heart of that debate.

Butt backs Rice as the non‑negotiable

Not everyone from that treble‑winning United dressing room agrees with Scholes’ solution, even if they share the same diagnosis.

Nicky Butt, another former England midfielder, also wants Tuchel to field only one holding player. His choice, though, is emphatic: Rice stays, Anderson sits.

“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.”

Butt’s stance underlines Rice’s status in the dressing room hierarchy: the reference point, the anchor, the man managers trust when the stakes rise. Even with Anderson set to join Manchester City in a deal worth £116m, Butt still sees Rice as the non-negotiable.

Tuchel’s midfield gamble

So Tuchel stands at a familiar England crossroads: listen to the call for more attacking risk or trust the man who has become the heartbeat of his midfield.

Drop Rice and he backs the Scholes vision of a more adventurous England, built to suffocate DR Congo with waves of pressure and forward passing. Keep him, and he leans into Butt’s belief that certain players simply do not sit out knockout football.

England have cleared the first hurdle. They have not yet convinced anyone they can clear the last.

Tuchel’s choice between Rice and Anderson on Wednesday night will say plenty about how he plans to bridge that gap.