Thomas Tuchel urged to drop Arsenal star for England’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina

Thomas Tuchel has been urged to start a player who has not made an appearance at the World Cup so far, when England take on Argentina on Wednesday.

The Three Lions edged past Norway 2-1 after extra time in the quarter-finals on Saturday night and now head to Atlanta for a mammoth clash with an old rival.

Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 at the weekend, also needing extra time to do so, and look to go one step closer to defending the World Cup when they face England on Wednesday.

Tuchel has some big decisions to make and will partly be instructed by the state of his squad in terms of illness and injury.

Declan Rice started the win over Norway but was withdrawn at half-time as he continued to suffer with an illness that had been bothering him in the days before the match.

Former England full-back Stephen Warnock reckons Tuchel start the Arsenal star again, but would rather he didn’t, regardless of his physical state.

Warnock reckons Kobbie Mainoo would be a better option in midfield, offering more attacking threat from deep than Rice.

‘In midfield against Argentina, it will be Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham, then I think Thomas Tuchel will go with Declan Rice,’ Warnock told betTOM. ‘However, just given the way Rice has played so far – and I’ll get a lot of criticism for this – I think he’s got to be a lot more progressive with his passing through the lines.

‘I would personally prefer to see Kobbie Mainoo in there. He’s a different type of player, who can also play on the edge in a big game. I’d like to see him start, but I think Tuchel will stick with Rice.’

Mainoo is one of only three outfield players yet to make an appearance at the World Cup this summer, along with Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah.

The Manchester United star played in the two friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rice immediately before the tournament, but has not been trusted by Tuchel since then.

It would be a huge call from the manager to throw Mainoo into the starting XI in a World Cup semi-final after no appearances in the competition beforehand.

Speaking after the win over Norway, Tuchel explained that Rice’s half-time substitution was partly tactical, but it was the Arsenal star that was removed as he had been ill for three days before the game.

‘We made life complicated for ourselves, and we had some players struggling with the heat,’ Tuchel said. ‘Ezri Konsa was one of them, cramps in his hamstring and with Declan, we made the decision to go more offensive at half-time. It was a bit of an offensive shift.

‘I made the decision at 1-0 down and didn’t want to go back on the decision. Even after the equaliser, I thought this was the right signal for the team, to take up higher positions and more connections when Norway defends in a deep block.

‘It’s about being closer to your opponents’ box, so we put in Ebs [Eberechi Eze] and Bukayo [Saka] and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out.

‘Knowing that Declan struggled after the last three days, he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes.

‘I also knew there was the possibility of 120 so I didn’t want to waste another change so I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on.’

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