Micah Richards makes Lewis Hall vs Nico O’Reilly claim that Man City fans won’t like
Micah Richards has urged Thomas Tuchel to start Lewis Hall at left-back for England at the World Cup over Nico O’Reilly and Luke Shaw.
The former Man City defender believes that Hall has been the best English left-back in the last few months, and deserves a starting berth for his country this summer.
Hall has picked up two caps for his country in his short career so far, but is yet to feature for the Three Lions since Tuchel took charge at the start of 2025.
He has made 30 appearances for Newcastle across all competitions this season, despite dealing with recurring injury issues.
O’Reilly has been Tuchel’s favoured left-back in the last few England camps, but Hall has now been backed to oust him in North America this summer.
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Micah Richards urges Thomas Tuchel to start Lewis Hall after latest Newcastle showing
Hall started on the left of Newcastle’s back four as they took on Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday, and he put in one of his finest performances of the campaign so far.
The 21-year-old created a chance, made 12 passes into the final third, drew two fouls and won six duels, as he helped the Magpies come away with a well-deserved 3-1 win.
His strong showing saw Richards make a case for him to be England’s main left-back at this summer’s World Cup, while speaking on latest episode of The Rest is Football podcast.
He said: “While we’re just on Newcastle, Lewis Hall has to start (at) left-back for England.
“He’s absolutely amazing. To go from midfield to left-back, his spatial awareness, his timing of his challenges, he’s good on the ball, he’s got good delivery, he’s got everything.
“His performances over the last two months have been outstanding. He’s by far the best, and Luke Shaw has done well since United have been doing well.”
Gary Lineker insisted to Richards that City youngster O’Reilly is also in the running for a starting berth, and he replied: “Yeah, O’Reilly is being played in midfield, giving Man City a lot of energy in that midfield, but yeah, I would say Lewis Hall (deserves to start).”
What has Hall said about his England aims?
While often being out injured over the last 12 months, Hall has seen O’Reilly, Shaw, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Djed Spence all given chances to stake their claim at left-back under Tuchel.
The 21-year-old is now arguably in the best form of his career though, and looks set for a maiden call-up under the German when England face Uruguay and Japan in friendlies next month.
He spoke about his desire to play at the World Cup with the Three Lions last November in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying: “I’ve obviously had my taste of the senior camp before, so I know sort of how it felt to be there.
“It’s definitely a big goal of mine [the World Cup], and it’s something that I’d love to do.
“By the time the World Cup comes about I’ll be 21, so, being able to go to a World Cup at 21 is obviously a big achievement in my eyes and it’s something that I would be so proud of myself to do.
“That’s obviously a big aim for me.”