Nicky Butt has urged Thomas Tuchel to immediately call up Arsenal teenager Max Dowman to the England squad following the Three Lions' heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. The former Manchester United and England midfielder believes the Football Association should effectively write off the 2028 European Championship and focus on building a young squad capable of winning the 2030 World Cup.
Butt's blueprint for England's future
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Butt said: 'If I was in charge I would bring a manager in who understands we might lose the next tournament – we've been losing tournaments for 60 years – so accept we lose the next tournament but understand we need to win the one after that.' He added: 'To do that you've got to pick young players now. We need to start picking the young players now even if that means they're going to lose their first major tournament.'
Butt specifically named Dowman, who broke into Mikel Arteta's Arsenal first team last season, making 13 appearances in all competitions. The 16-year-old midfielder scored a memorable goal against Everton in March and his performances led to calls for his inclusion in Tuchel's World Cup squad, though that did not materialise.
'Go throw Max Dowman in'
'Go throw Max Dowman in and play him in every single England game, play him in every international break from now on,' Butt urged. 'We haven't got the players with the right mentality so we need to make them. You don't make those players at 22 or 23, you make them at 15 and 16.'
Butt's former Manchester United and England teammate Paul Scholes echoed the sentiment, saying: 'Max Dowman will definitely be around for the next tournament.'
Tuchel defends tactics after Argentina defeat
England took the lead through Anthony Gordon shortly after half-time but then retreated, allowing Argentina to score two late goals and continue their World Cup defence. Tuchel defended his approach, blaming English football's DNA rather than his tactics. 'In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us,' Tuchel said. 'Because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough.'
He added: 'I think ball possession plays a crucial role; it's maybe not in our DNA like it is in our Spanish DNA or in our Argentinian-Brazilian DNA, to take the ball and control the game with the ball.'
Butt criticises English football's mentality
Butt, who has been involved in academy football since his playing days, criticised the development system in England. 'Our mentality is we're trying to develop the players. I get development, I've been in development programmes, but what we don't do is develop winners,' he said. 'You can't develop players and then just expect them to become winners at 22 or 23, you've got to develop teams that can win football games and we don't do that.'
He added: 'It's not about changing the manager, England are never going to win anything with the mentality of our players and the way we play football right from a young age.'
Reigning champions Argentina will face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final after the European champions knocked out France.
