Troy Deeney has stunningly claimed that one England player was "no better than Noni Madueke' during their 2-1 win vs Norway on Saturday night, thus urging Thomas Tuchel to drop him ahead of the World Cup semi-final.
It was another come-from-behind victory for the Three Lions, who had to rely on the heroics of Jude Bellingham - fourth among the tournament's top performers based on stats - to set up a mouth-watering clash with Argentina on Wednesday night.
England have never beaten a side who are in the top four of the FIFA World Rankings at a major tournament before, but will need to do just that to cut Lionel Messi's title defence short in Atlanta, Georgia.
Deeney Brutally Names England Star Tuchel Must Drop vs Argentina
Deeney claimed that the lack of critique headed Nico O'Reilly's way pales in comparison to the heat on Arsenal winger Noni Madueke, but that shouldn't be the case. His brutal verdict on Manchester City's left-back was made when he, Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent named their predicted line-up for England's semi-final clash against Argentina. After he was picked in the XI, Deeney said on talkSPORT :
"By the way, he's [Nico O'Reilly] been getting away with murder. Because he's been playing just as good [bad] as [Noni] Madueke. It's just coming up against Messi, because that's what he's going to come in on the [England] left side. I would probably have to go Djed Spence just to match him. And say to Djed Spence, 'Just follow him. If he goes inside, go inside.'"
Goldstein felt Deeney's verdict was rather harsh, prompting the latter to respond: "What's been his good game?" The co-host admitted O'Reilly was yet to produce a memorable performance, but that he hadn't exactly been bad either.
Deeney replied: "No, I agree. And I don't think Madueke has had a bad game. He's just been in the middle. I'm just saying, the level of what you look for in an attacking player is much different to what you look for in a defensive player. Nico O’Reilly hasn’t been great. He’s been okay. For a player of his talent, and a player of his ability, okay shouldn't be good enough."
O'Reilly has featured in all six of the Three Lions' World Cup fixtures, with five of those being starts. Similarly to O'Reilly, Spence has featured in each of England's six World Cup fixtures to date but has started just twice.
He Also Believes England Can 'Batter' Argentina in Semi-Final
Just four days ago, Deeney said Tuchel's side would 'come unstuck' if they had to face Argentina. But he has since changed his tune, so much so that he has now made the sensational claim that England can 'batter' their opponents en-route to just a second World Cup final appearance in their history. He said (watch from 2:00 of the video below) :
"I actually think we batter them [Argentina]. Like 2-0, comfortable. Because I've watched Argentina all the way through - they are older, they're all over the place at the back, their centre midfielders are absolutely not controlling the game. Last of all, they are Messi or bust."
Whether England can stop Messi from adding to his tally of eight goals and three assists in six matches this summer is a massive ask, though, while Tuchel will once again be leaning on Harry Kane and Bellingham is he is to continue his side's impressive run of grinding out results, no matter what is thrown their way.
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Transfer News & Rumours