Nicky Butt Backs Tuchel to Make Tough Choices at World Cup

Nicky Butt has never been one to tiptoe around a subject. He doesn’t start now.

The former England and Manchester United midfielder believes Thomas Tuchel will be ruthless at the 2026 World Cup – and that one of the biggest names in his squad, Jude Bellingham, could find himself watching from the bench if he stumbles out of the blocks.

In Butt’s eyes, the man ready to pounce is Morgan Rogers.

Rogers knocking on the door

Bellingham arrives at the tournament off a stop–start season with Real Madrid, disrupted by a shoulder problem and a hamstring injury that kept him out for long stretches. He still racked up 40 appearances in all competitions, starting 30 of them, but the rhythm that defined his previous campaign never quite took hold.

Rogers’ year went the other way. While Bellingham fought his body, the Aston Villa playmaker surged.

At 23, he has just helped Villa to a Europa League triumph and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, returning 13 goals and 11 assists across those two competitions. Those numbers have turned heads at club level; his trajectory with England is rising just as sharply.

Since his debut in 2024, Rogers has featured in 13 of England’s 14 matches. That’s not a fringe player. That’s someone a manager trusts.

Butt certainly does. He sees a footballer with the tools to crash the established hierarchy in Tuchel’s side.

Speaking to Paddy Power, he named the usual headline acts – Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Bellingham – then dropped the twist: Rogers “could be the one that really stands out”.

For Butt, the key is how Bellingham starts the tournament. If the Madrid midfielder catches fire early, the conversation changes. If he doesn’t, the door swings open.

A Tuchel player in waiting

Rogers, Butt argues, is built for Tuchel’s blueprint. Operating in that number ten pocket, he offers movement between the lines, sharp combinations – and, crucially, a threat from distance.

“He can score goals from outside the box,” Butt pointed out, noting how often World Cup games are decided by long-range strikes when deep-lying defences clog the penalty area. Rogers, in that context, becomes a weapon.

Butt describes him as having the “X-factor”, a player who started the season on fire, dipped, then surged again as the campaign reached its business end. That resilience matters. So does the timing.

He can see a scenario where Rogers begins the World Cup as an impact substitute, coming off the bench to change tight games and nick decisive goals. Do that a few times on the biggest stage and you don’t just become useful; you become indispensable.

“I’ve got a sneaking feeling,” Butt admitted, that Rogers could be “the difference in a lot of games”.

The starting XI, in Butt’s view, “picks itself” for now. Rogers waits. But not, perhaps, for long.

No protection for reputations

The hinge on which this all turns, Butt insists, is Tuchel’s personality.

“One thing about Tuchel,” he said, is that “he doesn’t give a f*ck about player egos or the perception.”

That line will echo around England’s camp.

If Bellingham “is not playing well,” Butt expects Tuchel to “take him out of the firing line and put Rogers straight in.” No sentiment. No deference to status. Just decisions.

From there, Butt sketches out a familiar World Cup storyline: a player who arrives as a bit-part option and leaves as a star. He believes Rogers has that ceiling – that he could, in the right circumstances, emerge as England’s best performer at the tournament.

It has happened before with others. Butt is convinced Rogers has the ability to be next.

Doubts over England – and Tuchel’s future

For all his enthusiasm about Rogers, Butt is far less bullish about England’s wider prospects.

He sees a young squad, huge expectation and a punishing environment combining into a formidable barrier. The heat, the humidity, the travel – all of it, in his mind, chips away at England’s chances of going all the way.

“I personally think it would be a success to get to the final stages – the semi or the final,” he said. Yet he knows how the conversation will sound back home. For many, even a semi-final might be framed as failure.

He doesn’t buy that. But he doesn’t see England lifting the trophy either.

“I can’t see us winning it,” he admitted, pointing again to the conditions and the grind of the schedule. “I’m not confident.”

Failure, for him, is clear-cut: not getting out of the group. Anything short of a semi-final, though, will trigger scrutiny, especially with the talent left behind.

Tuchel has omitted Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold, all described by Butt as out of form but still big calls to leave at home. If England fall early, the line of questioning will be obvious.

“So if we don’t get to the latter stages, the finger will be pointed straight at Thomas Tuchel,” Butt warned.

At that point, he believes, the relationship between Tuchel and The FA could unravel quickly. Butt sees a coach wired for the day-to-day intensity of club football, not the long gaps and political pressure of the international game.

If this World Cup ends badly, Butt expects both sides to look for the exit. Tuchel, he feels, will want to dive back into club management; The FA will look for a new direction.

Brazil, Argentina, Spain – and a daunting path

When Butt scans the rest of the field, his instincts pull him towards South America.

Given the heat and humidity, he expects teams acclimatised to those conditions to thrive. He even flags the possibility of England facing Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16 – a scenario that would test any side’s legs and lungs.

“It’d be crazy not to look at Brazil or Argentina as favourites,” he said.

He acknowledges that Brazil no longer boast the glittering roll call of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, at least not in that volume of superstar names. But the badge still carries weight, and in these conditions Butt can’t shake the image of Brazil and Argentina driving deep into the tournament.

Spain, for him, are also right in the mix. He sees them as the bookmakers’ favourites, a team technically polished, comfortable in the heat and likely to travel with a huge following.

“I could see that they’d be there or thereabouts,” he said. Yet when he pictures the final stretch, his mind keeps circling back to the same two shirts: yellow and sky blue.

England, in Butt’s view, are chasing those giants, not standing alongside them.

Somewhere in that chase, though, lies a different kind of story – a young playmaker from Aston Villa, waiting for his chance, and a head coach unafraid to tear up the pecking order if one of his biggest stars falters.

If Jude Bellingham doesn’t catch light quickly, Morgan Rogers might just be the one who does.