THOMAS TUCHEL SPEAKS OUT ON JUDE BELLINGHAM 'RIFT'
England boss Thomas Tuchel has downplayed any disagreement between him and Jude Bellingham ahead of the World Cup semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday.
The Three Lions booked their place in the final four on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over Norway after extra-time in Miami.
Bellingham was the hero again for England, scoring both goals as he took his tally for the tournament to six.
Despite the win, Tuchel spoke after the game about being unimpressed with his team’s performance in general.
He was thrilled with their mentality and commitment as they managed to escape a testing game with a victory, but was disappointed with their level of quality, saying the team was lucky to progress.
After the game it was put to Bellingham that Tuchel wasn’t happy with the performance and he told ITV: ‘Yeah well, whatever. It’s difficult out there, it’s a tough shift, all the players have put in a very tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation go to the players who put in a great shift yet again.’
He added in another interview: ‘Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Odegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against.’
There were concerns of a rift between manager and star player, but Tuchel has dismissed those concerns and explained how the matter was settled.
He pointed out that Bellingham was only presented with his criticism and not his positive comments about the attitude of the players against the Norwegians.
‘No problem. I spoke to the whole team after, which was basically the same message,’ said the England boss. ‘And I explained it again yesterday to just move on. Then, straight away, we talked about Argentina.
‘Our comments come from the same place, from having the edge when competition is on.
‘He (Bellingham) was just confronted with the negative side. I called him a world-class player. I said he had produced world-class actions again, that the mentality of this team is outstanding.
‘All of that was not part of the question. So he was confronted with, “What do you think? The coach said you were sloppy”.
‘I’d maybe bite back if I came from 120 minutes, scored two, gave everything. It’s a normal reaction for a player of his mindset.’
England captain Harry Kane had already played down any problem, saying Bellingham gave a normal reaction in the circumstances.
‘When you play a game like that, and get asked a question straight after the final whistle when he hasn’t known what the manager has said, it’s like, what do you want Jude to say?’ Kane said.
‘It’s easy to try to create this division, it seems to be an English thing to do at these tournaments.
‘But we’re where we are because of our togetherness. Not just the players but the coach, staff and everyone involved.’
England take on Argentina at 8pm UK time on Wednesday in Atlanta, with the winners taking on Spain in Sunday’s final after they beat France 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Spain already have a huge advantage over England if they reach World Cup final
England will hope to join Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final by beating Argentina on Wednesday night – but the Three Lions already face a huge disadvantage in their bid to end 60 years of hurt.
La Roja dominated France in their semi-final match in Texas on Tuesday evening with Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro scoring either side of half-time.
France, tipped by many to win the tournament, saw their campaign end with a whimper, failing to lay a glove on their opponents in what was Didier Deschamps’ final game in charge.
Spain were sublime in reaching just their second World Cup final, having conceded just one goal across their seven games so far.
England hope to secure a shot at revenge against Luis De La Fuente’s side who beat them in the Euro 2024 final two years ago.
But they must first beat defending champions Argentina in what is expected to be a brutally physical content on Wednesday.
Spain will now have five days to recover with their semi-final kicking off a day before England vs Argentina.
That extra 24 hours rest could have huge significance come Sunday with former England star David James believing it will have a major role to play.
‘Spain have now got the day advantage. I think England vs Argentina is going to be have a heavy physical toll on both teams,’ said James, who is writing exclusively for Metro throughout the World Cup.
‘When you look at Spain versus Belgium [in the previous round], I don’t think Spain were overexerted physically. They’ve got the extra day now having beaten France.
‘I didn’t think by the way they play they were going to be over-exerted physically. But I think Argentina or England will be registering their highest output in the game on Wednesday, so that extra day I think is going to make a massive difference – especially when you’re looking at England with the likes of Declan Rice who has been suffering.
‘It’s how you fit them into training when you’re having to rest most of the players for playing so many minutes. At the moment the balance has been spot on because we are in the semi-final, but that is a skill for the manager, for the coaching staff.
‘But that 24 hours I think makes a massive difference.’
History would suggest the day advantage plays a part with the last three World Cup winners playing their semi-final match before their opponents.
In 2022, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in their semi-final the day before France beat Morocco. While a tight final went all the way to penalties it was Argentina who held their nerve.
In 2018, eventual champions France beat Belgium in their semi-final, a game played 24 hours before Croatia beat England.
It was a similar story in 2014 – Germany’s infamous 7-1 thrashing of Germany took place the day before Argentina saw off Netherlands on penalties.
2026-07-15T10:51:52Z
