Tuchel's Bold Choices: Bellingham's Spot Under Threat from Rogers
Nicky Butt has never been one for polite diplomacy. The former England midfielder believes Thomas Tuchel will be just as ruthless at the 2026 World Cup – even if it means dropping Jude Bellingham for Aston Villa’s rising star Morgan Rogers.
In Butt’s eyes, reputations will count for nothing.
Tuchel, now in charge of the Three Lions, “doesn't give a f*ck about player egos or the perception,” Butt said, backing the German to pull the trigger on any underperforming star. And the man he sees primed to take advantage is Rogers, the 23‑year‑old who has just powered Villa to a Europa League triumph and a fourth-place Premier League finish.
Rogers finished the season with 13 goals and 11 assists across those two competitions, numbers that have dragged him from promising talent into serious international contention. He has already featured in 13 of England’s 14 matches since his debut in 2024, and Butt is convinced his trajectory is still sharply upward.
“[Harry] Kane, [Declan] Rice, [Bukayo] Saka and [Jude] Bellingham are the superstars,” Butt said in an exclusive interview with Paddy Power, “but Morgan Rogers could be the one that really stands out.”
The line is striking. Not just because of the company Rogers is being placed in, but because of who might make way.
Bellingham under pressure after stop-start season
Bellingham arrives at the World Cup with questions hanging over him for the first time in years. His season at Real Madrid was chopped up by a shoulder problem and a subsequent hamstring injury, absences that denied him rhythm and continuity. He still managed 40 appearances in all competitions, starting 30 of them, but the campaign never quite belonged to him in the way many expected.
Butt believes that if Bellingham doesn’t ignite quickly, Tuchel will not hesitate.
“It’ll depend on how Jude Bellingham starts the tournament,” he said. “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… If Bellingham, for example, is not playing well, he'll take him out of the firing line and put Rogers straight in.”
The suggestion is clear: Bellingham’s name on the teamsheet is no longer automatic.
A ‘Tuchel player’ ready to explode
Rogers, Butt argues, is tailor-made for this manager and this stage. Operating in that coveted No 10 pocket, he offers goals, range and a directness that fits Tuchel’s demands.
“Rogers is a [Thomas] Tuchel kind of player, he likes him a lot in that number ten role,” Butt explained. “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.”
The numbers back up the eye test. Rogers started the season in blistering form, dipped, then finished strongly again – a full campaign of learning, adjusting and delivering when it mattered most.
“I think Rogers has got the X-factor,” Butt said. “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 established hierarchy will hold.
“I think the starting XI picks itself and he won’t get in straight away,” he admitted. But the door, he insists, is barely on the latch. “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 unmistakable: one poor Bellingham performance, and Rogers is ready to walk through.
Doubts over England’s prospects in brutal conditions
If Butt is bullish about Rogers, he is far less optimistic about England’s wider chances in North and Central America.
He fears the conditions – the heat, the humidity, the vast travel demands – will drag heavily on a young squad still learning how to win at the very top level.
“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.”
He even highlights a potential last‑16 clash that underlines the scale of the task.
“We could play Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16,” he noted, a scenario that would throw England into one of world football’s most unforgiving environments.
For Butt, failing to escape the group would be the obvious disaster. But he also warns that anything short of a semi-final will be framed harshly, especially when high-profile names have been left at home.
“They’re out of form but he’s not picked Phil Foden, not picked Cole Palmer, not picked Harry Maguire or Trent Alexander-Arnold,” he said. “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 define Tuchel’s entire England tenure.
“If that happens I think he'd be gone,” he said bluntly. “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.”
The stakes could hardly be higher: a demanding environment, a fanbase that now expects deep runs as standard, and a manager who might see this as a short, sharp international chapter before returning to the club game.
Brazil, Argentina, Spain – and England on the outside
When Butt looks beyond England, his gaze settles quickly on familiar giants.
“I honestly do think because of the conditions and the heat and the humidity, it’s going to be really tough,” he said. “It'd be crazy not to look at Brazil or Argentina as favourites.”
He accepts that Brazil no longer carry the same galaxy of names that once included Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, but the shirt still carries weight and the style still suits the climate.
“Spain are the favourites and you can see that as they can handle the hit and they'll have a big following,” he added. “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.”
So England head into 2026 with a bold, uncompromising manager, a generational midfielder under pressure, and a fearless newcomer threatening to tear up the script. If Tuchel really does ignore egos and reputations, the question is no longer whether Morgan Rogers will get his chance – but how ready England are for the shockwaves if he takes it.
