Former England midfielder Gareth Barry says Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham should not necessarily start together in midfield at this summer's World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, even though both are certainties for Thomas Tuchel's squad.
Rice is an automatic starter for England under head coach Tuchel, and Bellingham's omission from the starting XI would raise eyebrows. Barry, who won 53 caps over a 12-year England career and started three of England's four matches at the 2010 World Cup, says Tuchel still needs to find the right balance.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Sport as a TOCA Social ambassador, Barry said Rice was probably the best player around at the moment and could play different roles, while Bellingham had already proved he was used to the big moments. He added that Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers was a lot different to the other players and would definitely go to the World Cup as one of his three certainties.
Barry said he would not necessarily play Bellingham and Rice together, since both play further forward for their clubs, and would rather play one of them, probably Rice, in a deeper role. He said Tuchel mixed things up during qualifying and that the second midfield spot appeared to be up for grabs.
Rice and Bellingham have started 29 matches together for England, winning 16, drawing seven and losing five, a 55.2 per cent win rate. Their last four starts together all ended in wins, against Finland in the Nations League and against Albania, Latvia and Albania again in 2026 World Cup qualifying. Notable victories in that period include two wins over Italy and one over the Netherlands, offset by defeats to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals and Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Since Tuchel succeeded Gareth Southgate, Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson has held the central midfield berth alongside Rice and is likely to fill the contested slot Barry referred to.
Barry had no reservations about Rogers, saying the Villa forward travels with the ball to the front better than almost anyone, capable of carrying it from his own 18-yard box to the opposition's in a flash, making him a definite starter.
Foden's uncertain place
Barry said the jury was still out on Phil Foden. The Manchester City forward had a mixed campaign and struggled in England's two March friendlies at Wembley, starting as a No 10 in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay before being deployed unsuccessfully as a false nine in a 1-0 defeat by Japan. Barry, 45, said Foden had had a few incredible seasons but this one had been stop-start, and that to guarantee his place he needed to finish the season strongly with the goals and assists Manchester City require from him.
O'Reilly's breakout season
Barry said there was no such uncertainty over Foden's City team-mate Nico O'Reilly. The 21-year-old has had an outstanding breakout season, shown adaptability at left back and central midfield, and scored a match-winning brace in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal in March. Barry said O'Reilly moved like a Rolls Royce and played with maturity, and that he could possibly be ahead of Foden in Tuchel's thinking, though both had a strong case to go.
O'Reilly's form has driven Manchester City's renewed pursuit of Arsenal in the Premier League title race, though that push was stunted by a 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday.
Guardiola's future
Pep Guardiola's contract at the Etihad expires at the end of next season, and City's slow start raised questions about his future. Barry, who won City's first Premier League title with them in 2011-12, believes Guardiola will want to end on a high next year after what he called a rebuilding season. He said City's recruitment had not always got it right, that players like Kevin De Bruyne do not come along often, and that he would be surprised if this was Guardiola's last year, expecting another summer of signings.
Aston Villa's season
City's title chase may come down to the final game of the season, against Villa, the club where Barry joined as a trainee in 1997, made his debut a year later, played 441 games and captained the side before a £12million move to City in June 2009. His closest brush with silverware there was as a runner-up in the 1999-2000 FA Cup final, which he started, as Chelsea won 1-0. Villa have not won a major trophy since the League Cup in 1995-96 but are favourites in this year's Europa League final against Freiburg on May 20 in Istanbul.
Barry said Villa had had an incredible season, at one point in the title conversation, before injuries to midfield players hurt a tactical manager like Unai Emery who needs those options. He said he was confident they could finish in the top five, potentially upsetting Liverpool for fourth, with Manchester United finishing strongly in third.
Milner's record and retirement
Barry and James Milner were team-mates at Villa, City and England, starting 124 games together. In February, Milner surpassed Barry's all-time Premier League appearance record of 653 games during Brighton's 2-0 win at Brentford. Barry, told he had played almost 14,000 more minutes in the top flight than Milner, joked he didn't want to tarnish the record, said he was happy for his former team-mate, and that he was not sure whether the 40-year-old had decided to carry on playing next season.
Barry retired in August 2020 aged 39, ending his career at West Brom in the Championship, and previously described their 2017-18 Premier League relegation as an all-time personal low. In July 2024 he came out of retirement to play for Hurstpierpoint in the Mid Sussex Football League, the 12th tier of the English pyramid, after his best friend Michael Standing, who joined Villa with him, asked him to turn out for a team he was coaching. Barry said he had not played for them in 18 months, found the pitches tough going, but was unbeaten in the games he did play.
Barry now plays cricket and golf, batting at No 5 for Temple Grafton Cricket Club in the Cotswolds and occasionally bowling. He said he has no plans to move into coaching, has not taken his badges, and is enjoying time with his family after five years in retirement.
Barry spoke to Daily Mail Sport at TOCA Social in west London, where he is the new Angry Ambassador for the venue's new Angry Birds game, a nod to his record of 123 yellow cards in top-flight history. The new Angry Birds game launched at all TOCA Social UK venues on March 30.