Jose Mourinho has admitted Gareth Southgate should have taken off Kalvin Phillips against Scotland to add another creative England player.
The Three Lions were held to a 0-0 draw at Wembley against their British rivals after a limp display.
It leaves England with four points from their first two opening Euro 2020 matches and on course to qualify for the last 16 but after one goal in two matches, fans have been left unimpressed.
Gareth Southgate has been heavily criticised for defensive tactics against Scotland, leaving Rice and Phillips on as two holding midfielders for the entirety of the game, rather than bringing on another attacker.
Instead, Phil Foden and Harry Kane were replaced and, through no fault of the Leeds United star, Mourinho believes Phillips should have been sacrificed if England wanted to win the match.
“What was so good against Croatia – the double pivot, if you want to call it that – was Rice and Phillips”, he told talkSPORT.
"Tonight, I would say that if England needed to win this match, I think Phillips would be out in minute 60, 65 and then England would go with a little bit more creativity.
"But again, I think it was the pragmatism of the result, let’s say the fear of losing it, that kept them on the pitch, that kept the clean sheet.”
He added: “In the end, if they don’t read the press and they focus on ‘We have four points, we have qualified, we are going to beat the Czech Republic’, then it probably wasn’t as bad as our feelings are.”
