ARLINGTON, Texas — Regarding the clash between England manager Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham, there are two angles to consider.
First, the melodrama. Remember, there is history here. Tuchel dropped Bellingham from England’s squad in October, after using the word “repulsive” in August to describe Bellingham’s behavior on the field. The manager later apologized, saying he’d used the word unintentionally as a result of English being his second language.
Still, it’s hard to think those moments didn’t underpin Bellingham’s response Saturday when asked about Tuchel’s comments in the wake of England’s 2-1 win over Norway, in which the manager said in an on-field interview that his team had been “sloppy” and “lucky” to escape the quarterfinal.
“Maybe, or maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these types of conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Ødegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sørloth,” Bellingham said in the mixed zone when asked to respond to Tuchel. “That’s not an easy team to play against. I think we tried to create a positive environment. We should continue that going into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads. … Sometimes you have to win dirty and we did that again tonight.”
The perceived dig at Tuchel’s playing career raised eyebrows, as did the obvious lack of synergy between manager and star player. In Tuchel’s defense, he repeatedly praised his team’s mentality in the on-field interview and, given the chance to expand later in a news conference, sounded far less upset about the performance. It’s easy for such nuances to get lost in the shuffle, especially amid a chaotic and emotional environment within an hour after the final whistle.
“Not at all [upset] with the result and not with the team,” Tuchel said. “Maybe to be more specific … there’s no doubt I’m proud and I’m happy. I feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes to take the next step. They just refuse to lose.
“There will come obstacles and adversity, but I’m also a football coach. And I also have demands. Of course we want to bring out the best in us in a performance, because a top performance helps you winning games, just like this. So the head of mine is not fully satisfied and is not 100 percent happy with the way we played.”
If not for Bellingham’s response, that’s probably how the initial comments would have been taken: a manager being a manager.
Whether Bellingham’s comments point at a poor relationship with Tuchel or not is, relatively speaking, a minor issue, at least as it relates to England’s chances of winning the World Cup. Bellingham and Tuchel need each other; things have been fine for a month together, surely the bottom won’t fall out with two games left. (If Tuchel stays in the job after this summer, that’s another matter.)
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The second facet, and the more important one as it relates to that, is the merit of Tuchel’s criticism, which he built on in his answer.
“I stand by it,” he said. “I think we can play faster. I think we can play more clinical. We have too many unforced errors and technical mistakes in our game that cost us a lot of belief. And like I said, we had some crucial moments where we got lucky at the end of the first half, we lost a bit of belief and confidence. Lot of things to do better, which is not a problem, but no disconnect from me to my team.”
While Bellingham’s defensiveness is understandable, that is, obviously, all true. And while the heat Saturday certainly played a major factor in how slow paced the game was at points, the problem wasn’t limited to the quarterfinal.
England did play on the back foot for much of the Norway game, and it has rarely looked at its best in the World Cup.
Some of that is on Tuchel. His first two substitutions at halftime Saturday hurt England before the additions of Djed Spence, Reece James and Morgan Rogers solved the problem. His choices to drop Cole Palmer, Adam Wharton and Phil Foden remain suspect. He still hasn’t found the best starting 11 at this tournament, with questions at right back, right wing and center back in particular.
Some of it is on the players themselves, whose execution has left room for improvement.
Should England go out against Argentina — another team that’s struggled to control games against seemingly inferior opposition — Tuchel’s words will have been proven right in the worst way.
