Former England captain Wayne Rooney is lacking confidence in England’s ability to win the World Cup after their victory over DR Congo.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were far from their best as they edged past the African minnows, needing two late goals from captain Harry Kane to progress to the round of 16.
And Rooney pulled no punches with his assessment of the game after full-time.
He told the BBC: ‘For me there are big concerns. We are all delighted England have gone through but in particular when England lose the ball they are so open.
‘Against a better team I think we are in big trouble if we don’t sort that out.
‘The connection isn’t great between the backline and midfield, the full-backs are struggling, [Noni] Madueke struggled.
Wayne Rooney has raised concerns about England’s ability to win the World Cup with the current way they are playing
England beat DR Congo on Wednesday, but they badly struggled for large parts of the match
‘There are just no connections and big gaps in the middle of the pitch and that is a big worry for me.
‘He [Tuchel] really needs to look at that otherwise we will go out.’
The Three Lions will now face Mexico in Mexico City on Monday morning (BST).
The co-hosts are yet to concede a goal at the tournament and have won all four of their games.
Should they progress from that tie – which will take place at the Estadio Azteca – England could take on Brazil in the quarter-finals and then defending champions Argentina in the semi-finals.
Rooney had earlier been critical of England’s defence and accused Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa of ‘poor judgement’ for Brian Cipenga’s opening goal for Congo, and insisted that Tuchel’s side were ‘just off it’ in so many elements.
He was similarly critical at full-time and took particular aim at Djed Spence’s nervy display at right-back.
The former striker highlighted how that is a serious problem position for Tuchel now – and revealed the bold call that he would have made before the tournament.
Rooney added: ‘We’ve seen it before where players have come out of retirement… I think the minute Tino Livramento got injured, they should have been straight on the phone to Kyle Walker.
‘Kyle’s still more than good enough and more than capable of playing in this England team.
‘I would have been on the phone to him and saying, “Listen, we need you here so can you come out and help us”, because that could really cost us. I’m worried on that.’
Rooney was also critical of Djed Spence and highlighted his concerns around right back
Despite his criticism, Rooney did reserve special praise for matchwinner Kane, who has now scored 13 World Cup goals.
‘His header was brilliant but the second goal was incredible and he is just such a top player,’ he added.
‘All the best players in the world are performing at this World Cup, he is England’s superstar, he is the hero for us.
‘There are few things that they need to clear up: I wasn’t too sure about midfield and defence in that performance but the main thing in football is you get through and Harry Kane has done it again for us.’
