Micah Richards names the players Gareth Southgate MUST start to ‘hurt’ Switzerland in England’s crucial quarter-final on Saturday

Micah Richards has sent England manager Gareth Southgate some tactical advice ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland.

The Three Lions were unconvincing in their first four games of the tournament and were seconds away from elimination against Slovakia in the round of 16 before Jude Bellingham equalised in the 95th minute.

Harry Kane then turned the tide and England won 2-1 against Slovakia after extra time.

But those goals came from England’s only two shots on target and Richards wants Southgate’s side to play more attackingly this weekend.

Switzerland beat Italy 2-0 in their last match but Richards, who played 13 times for England at senior level between 2006 and 2012, believes the Euro 2020 finalists have enough players to ‘torment’ their opponents on Saturday.

Switzerland have opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation so far and Richards believes England need to make things difficult for the two centre-backs either side of that back three.

Former England defender Micah Richards, pictured on Gary Lineker’s podcast ‘The Rest Is Football’, has been doing some research ahead of the match

Switzerland are expected to field three central defenders, including Ricardo Rodriguez (13) and Fabian Schar (22).

Speaking about Gary Lineker’s The Rest Is Football podcastRichards said: ‘Tactically I look at this game. I’ve looked at the games against Switzerland and there are areas in that team where you can hurt them.

‘When I look at the England team now and you have [Fabian] Schar – and Schar is a very good player – but he doesn’t want to play across the field.

‘The same applies to [Ricardo] Rodriguez on the other side too. I think Southgate, if he looks at this, he should play wingers.

He has to play [Bukayo] Saka or Cole Palmer on the right and he should start with [Anthony] Gordon.

“In the transition, once you outsmart their press, you can hurt them. And I’ve seen videos of it.”

Lineker then asked Richards whether Southgate would agree with his tactical analysis and opt to attack Switzerland with wingers.

According to Richards, Bukayo Saka (left) or Cole Palmer (right) should start on the right wing

Saka, pictured (No. 7) in a team photo ahead of a group stage match against Denmark, has started all four of England’s matches so far at this summer’s European Championships.

Richards also wants Anthony Gordon (pictured in training) to get his first start at the European Championships

He said: ‘No, I don’t. I don’t think he will. I think we have to be careful how we line up. Because their wingbacks are used to playing this formation.

‘So what you don’t want is to play 4-3-3 and for Saka and Foden, when they start, to get very far, because then they close you in. Then you can’t get out and they dominate the game.’

Saka has started all four of England’s European Championship matches so far this summer, while Palmer and Gordon have only been used as substitutes.