Micah Richards urges Thomas Tuchel to drop Arsenal star from England World Cup team

Micah Richards has urged Thomas Tuchel to drop Arsenal winger Noni Madueke from England’s World Cup team.

England were made to sweat in their round-of-32 clash with DR Congo, but came from behind to win 2-1 and punch their ticket into the last 16.

Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute opener saw DRC take a shock lead before a superb, talismanic brace from Harry Kane rescued victory for the Three Lions late on.

Tuchel’s side now face a difficult match against Mexico in the next round and will need to be much improved if they are to get past the co-hosts at the Azteca Stadium.

England looked disjointed and lacking in ideas going forward for large periods of the game against DR Congo, with Marcus Rashford and Noni Madueke particularly ineffective in wide areas.

Madueke looked lively in England’s tournament opener versus Croatia, but has failed to hit those levels in his subsequent starts against Ghana and DR Congo.

Bukayo Saka would normally be England’s first-choice right winger, but has seen his minutes managed so far this tournament due to a lingering Achilles injury.

Saka did start for the Three Lions in their final group game against Panama, and Richards insists the 24-year-old must return to the starting lineup against Mexico.

Asked what team changes Tuchel needs to make, Richards told the BBC: ‘He needs to sort out the right-back area and decide which wingers he wants to play.

‘I think Rashford didn’t really live up to expectation and Gordon did really well on that left hand side when he came on.

‘But if Saka is fit, Saka has to start – it’s as simple as that. Even if he’s 80 per cent fit, he has to start.’

Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney wants Tuchel to address his midfield balance, saying: ‘For me, it’s putting two pivots in the middle of the pitch.

‘We’re getting to that stage of the competition where we’ve seen we’ve been wide open and there are big spaces in the middle of the pitch.

‘So whichever two it is, he has to keep two midfielders in the middle of the pitch.’

On the test that awaits England in the altitude of Mexico City, Rooney added: ‘This is such a difficult game which England are going into. I think the positive for England, not just from tonight but the other games as well, is they’ve found a way to get through when they haven’t been at their best.

‘But this game against Mexico is at altitude. We played against Brazil in Manaus, and it was very difficult – it takes your breath away – so I just think it’s going to be such a difficult game.

‘They need to rest up and make sure they are fully prepared because if England are going to win this World Cup, this could be their toughest game.

‘I’ve got no doubt England are a better team than Mexico, but what Mexico have is the fans, the emotion of playing in front of their fans.

‘We see it with the football and the boxing, everyone comes together for their sport and that is going to be the challenge for England to play against.’

Elsewhere, England skipper Kane conceded that the altitude will be a huge disadvantage for his side as they will have little to no time to adapt to the conditions.

‘My understanding is we cannot adapt to the altitude,’ Kane said. ‘It’s a huge advantage Mexico have. There’s not enough time. We knew that before. It’s just a disadvantage with which we will have to deal.’

Those sentiments were echoed by Tuchel, who said post-match: ‘The altitude will be a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it.

‘It just takes too much time. We have only three days in between these matches. It’s physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude.’

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