Wayne Rooney has said that forgotten England forwards Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney could still have a 'big role' to play at the World Cup, as manager Thomas Tuchel must share out the workload and preserve his first-choice stars. Tuchel has largely stuck with the same spine in England's first five matches, with Jordan Pickford, Ezri Konsa, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane starting every game. Declan Rice is also considered a guaranteed starter when fully fit but was an unused substitute in the final group game against Panama due to a calf problem.
England's path to the quarter-finals
A gritty 2-1 win over DR Congo followed by an unforgettable 3-2 defeat of Mexico at the Azteca have seen England advance to the quarter-finals, where they will face Norway on Saturday at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. The winner will meet either Argentina or Switzerland in the semi-finals. Tuchel will be sure to leave no stone unturned as he ponders his team selection for the showdown with Erling Haaland's Norway.
Right-back headache for Tuchel
Right-back has been the biggest problem for the England head coach. Injuries to Tino Livramento and Reece James opened the door for Jarell Quansah to start against Mexico, but he received a red card and a one-match suspension. Asked who should start at right-back against Norway, Rooney said on his BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney Show: 'For me, Djed Spence [should start]. I don't like to see centre-backs out there if I'm being honest. If you've got a right-back there, there's a reason he's been brought to the World Cup. He did really well against Croatia when he came on, Djed Spence, and the one game where he didn't do that well was when he started at left-back. So if you've got a right-back there then, for me, you play the right-back.' Rooney added: 'I'd probably go Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon after his performance and obviously the same two midfielders in Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham just off Harry Kane.'
Managing workload for key players
According to Rooney, it will be 'very difficult' for Bellingham and Kane to play every game right up until the final without risking injury or fatigue. This could pave the way for players like Watkins, Toney or Kobbie Mainoo to receive greater playing time. Rooney explained: 'I do think in the run-in for the next couple of games, to try and get to the final, he is going to need different players I believe because it's going to be very difficult for all those players to play all the games to go to the final. Hopefully those players are ready. That's my only concern.'
Rooney's concerns and hopes
Pressed on whether he would make changes for the Norway contest, Rooney said: 'It's a difficult question to answer because I think what's going to happen now, today, tomorrow, over the next two or three days actually, is they're going to look at how players recover from what was a very difficult game. That will all be taken into account and if all the players have recovered well… obviously the right-back has got to change again which I think has been a problem for England in this World Cup. Other than that, I think Thomas Tuchel has been pretty open on this and that looks like his starting XI, with Nico O'Reilly, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi. I still think Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney have got a big role to play at this tournament. I know Ivan Toney hasn't played a minute… Now obviously with Jordan Henderson [being injured] you hope Kobbie Mainoo is ready in case anything happens with Declan Rice.'
Mainoo's lack of minutes
Though a little 'surprised' that Mainoo is still yet to receive any minutes, Rooney feels the prominence of Rice and Anderson is blocking the youngster's route at the base of the midfield. Looking ahead to Saturday, he hopes to see England's midfield pivot playing closer together and with greater 'control'. Rooney said: 'I am surprised he [Kobbie] hasn't [had any minutes]. In the two games before Mexico we've chased a lot, Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice, when we've been in possession and had to chase a lot. This is not a criticism. You can do too much work in there when you can do less. I think it's really important that Rice and Anderson stay next to each other. I think we've ended up with Rice in front of him and then Anderson has a lot of ground to cover, the full width of the pitch. I would like to see the two of them staying next to each other and being a bit more controlled in how we play. Hopefully that can be the way forward for us.'
Rooney's prediction: England to win
Before the tournament, Rooney picked England as his favourites to lift the trophy, and he is not backing down. 'I said before the tournament that I think England will win it,' Rooney said. 'I was concerned and still have slight concerns but I think being more controlled will help us. Yeah, we've got good energy in the team but when you come up against a Spain or a France or an Argentina, for instance, I think if we go and chase and chase those players who are technically very good, positionally very good, then I think we will struggle if we chase the ball. If we stay in our shape and maybe give up possession at times, allow them to have the ball but in front of us, then I think we've got players who can hurt teams on the break. We've got pace and we've got power in that team and I think that would be more suited to us.'
Kane and Bellingham instrumental
If England are to end their 60-year wait for world domination, Rooney believes both Kane and Bellingham will be instrumental. On giving Bellingham a perfect ten for his display against Mexico, Rooney explained: 'I mentioned it last week, I said that Jude Bellingham was going to have a game in this tournament where we're going to need him. Harry Kane is the talisman of this team, he's the goalscorer and if we win it I think it will be because of Harry Kane. But I mentioned this earlier on in my punditry work: Jude Bellingham is going to have a game where we're going to need him, we're going to need him to drive us through. You look at Steven Gerrard against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, Roy Keane against Juventus for Manchester United… they dragged their teams through those games. I felt like that was Bellingham's one where those goals, the timing of the goals, his desire, his work-rate, his hunger… yeah, at times, defensively, he's maybe not always in the right positions, but his desire to get back and put that last-minute tackle in and help his team-mates when they're maybe not having the best game, it was everything. When you get asked to mark someone out of ten, you're looking and thinking, "Right, could they have done a little bit more to get that mark up", but I just felt it was the right game to give him a ten.'
England's quarter-final with Norway kicks off at 10pm BST on Saturday at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. A semi-final clash against either Argentina or Switzerland awaits the winner.
