Jude Bellingham insists England manager Thomas Tuchel ‘maybe doesn’t know’ what he’s talking about in a remarkable spiky interview after the World Cup quarter-final win over Norway.
The Three Lions needed extra-time – and two Bellingham goals – to get past Erling Haaland’s Norway and set up a semi-final against Lionel Messi and Argentina to come on Wednesday night.
Tuchel branded his players ‘lucky’ in an awkward ITV post-match interview – and Bellingham did not take to it kindly. At first England’s matchwinner tried to dodge the topic pitchside, saying: ‘Yeah, well, whatever.’
But he went deeper on the issue in the post-match mixed zone interviews. He suggested German manager Tuchel, who retired as a footballer at just 25 due to injury and ended up working as a bartender before his coaching career, ‘doesn’t know what it’s like’ in top-level matches.
‘What do you think about the statement from your boss?’ Bellingham was asked, initially replying: ‘No comment.’
Jude Bellingham and Thomas Tuchel saw England’s win over Norway very differently
Bellingham suggested Tuchel ‘doesn’t know what it’s like’ after a brutal post-match comment
But when pressed he then added: ‘Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, (Martin) Odegaard, (Antonio) Nusa, (Alexander) Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against.
‘I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment and we should continue that going into the final four. I couldn’t speak highly enough of the lads. You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making a thousand passes, sometimes you have to win dirty and we did that again tonight.’
England were playing in intense heat in Miami, with ‘real feel’ temperatures pitchside over 40C.
In the separate pitchside interview Bellingham had been dismissive of Tuchel’s comments, saying: ‘Yeah, well, whatever.
‘It’s tough out there, it’s difficult. All the players are putting in a very tough shift. So all my thoughts and appreciation goes to the players who were out there who put in a great shift.’
Tuchel is getting the best out of Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham at this World Cup. He has six goals, level with captain Harry Kane, and just behind Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland in the tournament’s top-goalscorer race, the Golden Boot.
But their relationship has not always been smooth. In August, Tuchel apologised for calling Bellingham’s on-field behaviour ‘repulsive’. The manager said the word was used ‘unintentionally’.
He had said: ‘If [Bellingham] smiles, he wins everyone. But sometimes you see the rage, the hunger and the fire and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive, for example, for my mother when she sits in front of the TV.’
Bellingham, 23, was a high-profile omission from Tuchel’s squads at the end of last year, missing England’s matches in October.
Bellingham wanted more credit for his team-mates after beating Erling Haaland’s Norway
His place in the England starting XI was under question coming into this World Cup but he has started every game and been the catalyst for the Three Lions’s progress to the semi-finals.
Tuchel laughed off claims of a rift last night. ‘There is no disconnect from me to my team, no, not one per cent,’ 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.’
He tried to play peacemaker, saying: ‘No one suggests that I’m not impressed with the shift that they put in, the effort, the spirit, the belief.’
‘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.
Bellingham added: ‘I’m blessed to be in this position to help my country win football games. I don’t know if I’m at my best, I don’t really care as long as we can keep winning games then that’s all that matters.’
In the semi-finals, England will face Argentina – who beat 10-man Switzerland in the last quarter-final overnight, 3-2 in extra-time.
Beyond the ‘lucky’ comment, Tuchel had more widely not been impressed with England’s quality in Saturday night’s game.
‘We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,’ he told ITV. ‘The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing. I’m not happy with the performance.
‘In every sense. 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.
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‘We will get better, we need to get better. Now it’s celebrations. Now it’s taking it all in. We need everything to make a better performance.’
Also speaking on ITV, pundit Gary Neville had praised Tuchel for taking on his players. ‘That’s why England brought Thomas Tuchel in,’ he said. ‘A manager who does not accept just winning the World Cup quarter-final. He wants more.
‘What they’ve done is they’ve taken him too close to the edge for his liking. You saw Messi cry the other day when they took him too close to the edge the other day.
‘Tuchel is going; why are you putting me through this? You’re better than that. We’re higher quality. It’s brilliant to watch. I love both interviews. Thomas Tuchel’s was fantastic. Jude Bellingham’s response was absolutely brilliant.
‘We’ve not looked like a collective unit since the start of the tournament in terms of knitting units together, rhythm of passes in possession. What we’ve got is an exceptional player or two in Bellingham and Kane.
‘What you’ve seen in those two interviews are massive egos, world-class players and managers. You have to be exceptional to do what those two have done.’
A freak goal from Andreas Schjelderup had England behind again in the quarter-final before Bellingham stepped up, striding through the Norway defence to equalise just before half-time. And he was on hand again to finish when Morgan Rogers’s shot from range was saved in the early moments of extra-time.
