Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham offered two very different assessments of the Three Lions’ progression to the World Cup semi-final on a fraught night in Miami.
The German branded his side ‘lucky’ after Bellingham’s brace and help from both VAR and a spider camera cable saw them creep past Norway after extra-time.
But the Real Madrid talisman, who now has six goals for the tournament, appeared to dismiss his head coach’s comments, declaring simply ‘whatever’ before hailing England’s ability to ‘win dirty’.
Tuchel was perhaps understandably unimpressed with an often-lacklustre performance as England often appeared to wilt in the oppressive Floridian heat before finally finding a way.
‘We were lucky,’ he said. ‘We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. ‘The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing (but) I’m not happy with the performance.’
Bellingham capitalised on an error from distraught Norway keeper Ørjan Nyland in extra-time to win it after he had cancelled out Andreas Schjelderup’s wonder-strike in a match the brave Scandinavians were desperately unlucky to lose.
Thomas Tuchel cut an unhappy figure despite England booking another World Cup semi-final
Standout star Jude Bellingham was nonplussed by his manager’s assessment in his interview
Indeed, in the build-up to Bellingham’s first-half leveller the ball appeared to strike a camera cable from Nyland’s goalkick before dropping to the feet of Eliot Anderson. By FIFA’s rules, such an incident should result in a dropped ball.
‘In every sense,’ Tuchel said when asked what he was unimpressed with from his men. ‘The commitment is there but we made life very, very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played. Sloppy, tactical mistakes, not fast enough. Not repetitive enough. We were lucky enough.’
Bellingham, who scored his fifth and sixth goals of what is already a stunning tournament, appeared to be singing from a different hymn sheet.
‘Maybe,’ he said when asked if the criticism was justified. ‘But maybe he (Tuchel) doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against.
‘So, I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment. We should continue that going into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads. You’re not going to win every game, popping the ball and making 1,000 passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we’ve done that again tonight.’
Tuchel was quick to play peacemaker when informed of his talisman’s comments.
‘No one suggests that I’m not impressed with the shift that they put in, the effort, the spirit, the belief,’ he said.
‘To overcome adversity and to dig in and to find ways to win is on the absolutely highest level. They cannot get enough praise for that. But I’m also a football coach and I think we can play better.’
Tuchel also hailed his side’s resilience, and added for good measure that he was ‘in love’ with his charges.
‘There’s no doubt I’m proud, and I’m happy and I feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes,’ he said.
The Real Madrid star has now scored six goals at this World Cup and has dazzled for England
Fellow superstar Erling Haaland was forced to watch critical extra time from the subs bench
‘They just refuse to lose. They overcome obstacles and adversity. But I also have demands. We want to bring out the best in us. In my head I am just not fully satisfied and I stand by that. I think we can play faster, we can play more clinical.
‘We had too many unforced errors and technical mistakes. We had some crucial moments where we got lucky so yeah – a lot of things to do better, which is not a problem.’
Indeed Tuchel laughed off claims of a rift. ‘There is no disconnect from me to my team, no, not 1%,’ he added. ‘I’m full with my heart and I’m fully in love with my players and my team and the way they perform.’
A spiky Tuchel also hit out at claims mentality may be a problem in the group. ‘This [getting through] is pure mentality now,’ he told ITV. How can you talk about mentality now? This is pure mentality. It’s not a mentality problem. You can bottle it up and sell it. Why are you talking about mentality? It’s the quality of our game [that’s the problem].’
FIFA defended the no-call on the camera cable, saying the ball’s sensor did not show a ‘spike’.
And Tuchel was in no mood for controversy. ‘I’m aware of it but there’s a chip in the ball so it should be able to tell you if it had touched. I was not aware of it. I didn’t see it, and FIFA said—and I think we just got lucky in decisive moments.’
A magnanimous Norway coach Stale Solbakken refused to pin all the blame on the incident and on a goal ruled out for a shove by Erling Haaland on Anderson.
‘That was unlucky for us,’ he said. ‘The ball fell that way down from the sky. It changed direction, so it became a misunderstanding so it was a bad moment. We can’t do anything about that. We’re not playing the game again, so that’s how it is.’
Meanwhile, Tuchel said Declan Rice was withdrawn at half-time because he wanted to go more offensive but also because the Arsenal man had been ill.
‘Declan struggles after the last three days where he was most of the time in bed,’ he said. ‘I knew he cannot survive 90 minutes.’
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