Butt backs Tuchel to make tough calls – Rogers could dethrone Bellingham

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 Jude Bellingham’s place in the starting XI is anything but guaranteed if Morgan Rogers catches fire.

Tuchel, Butt insists, “doesn't give a f*ck about player egos or the perception.” If a superstar underperforms, he’s out. Simple as that.

Bellingham under pressure after stop-start season

Bellingham heads into the tournament with his aura intact but his rhythm disrupted. A shoulder problem and a subsequent hamstring injury chopped up his season at Real Madrid, leaving him sidelined for significant spells.

He still put together 40 appearances in all competitions, starting 30 of them, but this wasn’t the relentless, ever-present force many expected. For Butt, that matters in a tournament where form can turn in a week and reputations mean very little once the whistle goes.

“It’ll depend on how Jude Bellingham starts the tournament,” Butt said, speaking exclusively to Paddy Power. “If he starts the tournament on fire, then it's different. But if he's not on the ball or Harry Kane needs to be coming or he’s not scoring goals…”

The implication is clear: there will be no sacred cows in Tuchel’s England.

Rogers riding a surge into the World Cup

While Bellingham has battled interruptions, Rogers arrives on a surge.

The Aston Villa playmaker is coming off a standout campaign in which Unai Emery’s side lifted the Europa League and finished fourth in the Premier League. At 23, he produced 13 goals and 11 assists across those two competitions – numbers that demand attention, not just curiosity.

His role with England has grown quickly too. Since making his debut in 2024, Rogers has featured in 13 of the national team’s 14 matches. That’s not fringe-player territory; that’s a manager testing and trusting a new weapon.

Butt sees a perfect marriage between player and coach.

“Rogers is a [Thomas] Tuchel kind of player,” he said. “He likes him a lot in that number ten role. He can score goals from outside the box. Lots of World Cup goals come from outside the box because teams sit deep around the box.”

This is where Butt’s prediction sharpens. He believes Rogers has the “X-factor” to turn from squad option into tournament star.

“He scores goals, he started to come really good towards the end of the season. He started the season on fire, he had a bit of a blip but then he came again. I've got a sneaking feeling that he could come off the bench a few times and score some really important goals. He could be the difference in a lot of games.”

For now, Butt accepts that the starting XI “picks itself” and that Rogers will not walk straight into it. But the door is open – and Bellingham is the one standing in front of it.

“If Bellingham's not flying,” Butt said, “one thing about Tuchel is that he doesn't give a f*ck about player egos or the perception. If Bellingham, for example, is not playing well, he'll take him out of the firing line and put Rogers straight in.

“You could then see someone who could become England's best player in the tournament, he's got that much ability. People can go in as a bit-part player and come out being a superstar. It's happened with so many players over the years.”

The message is brutal and simple: reputation starts the tournament; performance keeps you in it.

Doubts over England’s ceiling

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

He sees a young squad, a draining environment and a nation whose expectations are running ahead of reality.

“I personally think it would be a success to get to the final stages – the semi or the final,” he said. “But even then, with our expectations as a nation, I think even a semi might be seen as a failure.

“I don't think it would be. We’ve got a young squad, it's going to take time. I can't see us winning it. With the conditions over there, the heat and humidity, all the travel, it just doesn't seem possible. I'm not confident.”

For Butt, failure is clear-cut: falling at the group stage. Anything short of a semi-final, though, will trigger a very different debate, one focused squarely on Tuchel and his selections.

“They’re out of form but he’s not picked Phil Foden, not picked Cole Palmer, not picked Harry Maguire or Trent Alexander-Arnold,” Butt pointed out. “So if we don’t get to the latter stages, the finger will be pointed straight at Thomas Tuchel.”

Tuchel’s future on the line

That scrutiny, Butt believes, could shape Tuchel’s future beyond the tournament.

“If that happens I think he'd be gone,” Butt said. “Both from The FA side and he'd be gone personally as well. He'll want to get back into club football, he looks like a real club football manager, day to day he wants to be involved in it.

“Obviously the England job came along, it's a massive job, it's one of the biggest jobs in the world. But if it's not a success, I think both parties will want to part ways.”

Tuchel, then, walks into this World Cup with a squad heavy on talent, light on experience in some areas, and carrying the weight of a country that now expects deep runs as standard. His reputation for hard calls and tactical clarity will be tested under a different kind of spotlight.

And if Butt is right, that clarity may lead him to bench one of the biggest names in the squad for a 23-year-old from Aston Villa.

Brazil, Argentina, Spain – and a brutal reality

Zooming out from England, Butt’s view of the wider field is shaped by one thing: conditions. Heat, humidity, travel. He believes those factors could tilt the balance towards nations used to operating in that kind of environment.

“I honestly do think because of the conditions and the heat and the humidity, it’s going to be really tough,” he said. “We could play Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16.”

On the favourites, he doesn’t hesitate.

“It'd be crazy not to look at Brazil or Argentina as favourites,” Butt said. “Obviously Brazil aren't the team that used to be with Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos. They've not got superstar names like that, or as many.

“Spain are the favourites and you can see that as they can handle the hit and they'll have a big following. I could see that they'd be there or thereabouts, but for me I've just got Brazil and Argentina stuck in my head. I just think it'll be them.”

England, in Butt’s eyes, sit a tier below that trio – dangerous, talented, but wrestling with the environment and their own expectations.

So the stage is set: a ruthless coach, a superstar under pressure, a rising playmaker with numbers to back the hype, and a tournament that may favour others.

If Tuchel really does ignore egos, the World Cup could become the moment Morgan Rogers steps out of the shadows – and the moment England discovers whether its bold new manager can survive the consequences of his own bravery.