Sam Allardyce urges Thomas Tuchel to drop England World Cup star for Norway clash

Former England manager Sam Allardyce (Picture: Getty)

Former

England

manager

Sam Allardyce

has urged

Thomas Tuchel

to consider one ‘bold’ change to his side for their

World Cup

quarter-final versus Norway.

The Three Lions overcame a hostile atmosphere, unfavourable conditions and a red card for

Jarell Quansah

to

battle their way past co-hosts Mexico

last Sunday.

England’s reward for that gutsy performance in Mexico City is a last-eight clash against Norway after they shocked five-time winners Brazil in New Jersey.

Stale Solbakken’s side are competing at their first World Cup since 1998, but have navigated a tricky group and two tough knockout matches to reach the final eight for the first time.

Norway’s charge has been spearheaded by their sensational striker

Erling Haaland

, who has scored an impressive seven times in four games, including twice in Sunday’s last-16 win over Brazil.

Keeping the

Manchester City

striker quiet on Saturday in Miami will go a long way to ensuring England come out on top and reach the semi-finals.

And while club teammate Marc Guehi may know Haaland’s game better than most, former England boss Allardyce isn’t sure that the 25-year-old is the best person to nullify the threat of the Norwegian striker.

Erling Haaland has seven goals in four matches (Picture: Getty)

‘Personally, from a coaching point of view, purely from a coaching point of view, I wouldn’t let Guehi mark Haaland at any stage if he can help it,’ Allardyce told

Metro

.

‘If it’s going to be a Konsa alongside him, then it has to be Konsa’s job. Even if that means they switch over as time goes by.

‘If you’re leaving Guehi on his own with Haaland, irrespective of how good he is, if it’s a ball or a cross at the box, he’s not going to be able to deal with the heading power and the size of Haaland.’

And after Dan Burn’s impressive aerial performance off the bench against Mexico, Allardyce reckons the Newcastle United defender could be better suited to the task on Saturday.

Marc Guehi has started England’s last four matches (Picture: Getty)

‘Whether Thomas Tuchel wants to be brave and bold and put a bigger centre-half in there like Dan Burn will be something he’ll have to decide,’ he added.

‘Do you really want to disturb the team again? It’s a big decision. I’m hearing all the stats about how few goals Haaland has scored against Newcastle when he’s played against them.

‘But that was Premier League football; this is World Cup football. So he’s got a lot of things to think about, but I think that’s a change I would certainly think about making.’

Another problem England have to contend with on Saturday is the risk of suspension should they progress to the semi-finals.

Dan Burn impressed off the bench against Mexico (Picture: Getty)

The aforementioned Guehi, along with Jude Bellingham, Nico O’Reilly and Declan Rice, would all miss a hypothetical last-four clash if they picked up another booking against Norway.

But Allardyce suspects Tuchel will not let that possibility alter his team selection, insisting: ‘I think there’s more of a problem about getting through than anything else. If you pick up a card and you’re going to lose the next round, then that is what happens but my total focus would be on just the game.

‘But the player needs to be aware of it. Rather than tackling, just shut him down and hold him up. Shut him down and hold him up. Force him backwards or sideways.

‘If you’re in that position, you’re only tackling if you put yourself in a desperate position. Don’t put yourself in a desperate position and make sure you don’t have to make those sorts of challenges that might get you a yellow card.’

Thomas Tuchel is looking to guide England into the semi-finals (Picture: Getty)

England have won just one of their four competitive matches against Norway, a 4-0 thumping in a World Cup qualifier back in 1980.

But despite that questionable record, Allardyce is confident that England will emerge victorious on Saturday, saying: ‘On the back of the Mexico game, I’m confident.

‘I think that the players have to reach even a higher standard and we’ve got the opportunity that it’s in our hands, and we’ve got to go out and perform and make sure that we get the victory.’

Allardyce was speaking to

on behalf of

Currys

, who have launched a limited-edition collection of football-inspired technology to help fans through everything from kick-off to recovery during the World Cup.

Sam Allardyce was speaking behalf of Currys (Picture: Currys)

‘Currys have a range of products that allow everybody to watch the World Cup how they want to,’ he added.

‘The social media advert took me out of my comfort zone, which I loved. I’m used to being in front of the cameras as a football manager, but when you’re trying to act, it’s a whole new ball game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.’

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