England coach says midfielder’s comments were “a very normal reaction”
Thomas Tuchel won’t have any talk of tension with England midfielder Jude Bellingham, after the two-goal hero reacted sharply to his manager’s criticism of the team’s display against Norway.
Tuchel had praised Bellingham’s incredible performance to score the equaliser and then put England ahead in extra time as they emerged 2-1 winners against a Norway side that were arguably better across 90 minutes in the quarter-final. However, the head coach also criticised some aspects of his side’s overall performance.
“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four, it’s amazing, but not happy with the performance,” Tuchel said at the time. “Again, the commitment is there, but we made life very very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played – sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough – we were lucky today.”
Bellingham hit back by suggesting Tuchel “doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these types of conditions”.
Ahead of their next challenge against Argentina, England’s manager did not see any need to dwell on what he considered a normal reaction from his player.
“Our comments come from the same place – from being competitive and having the edge when competition is on,” Tuchel said. “He was just confronted with a critique of my side. I also called him a world-class player. I said he had world-class actions again to decide the match. I said the mentality is outstanding of this team. All of that was not part of the question.
“I would maybe also bite back when I come from 120 minutes, score two goals and give literally everything that is in my body. It’s just a very normal reaction for a player of his mindset. So no problem.
“I spoke to the whole team. We debriefed the game. I spoke to the whole team after in the dressing room, which was basically the same message. And I explained it again on Sunday evening to just move on forward. Then, in the same talk, we put on a new direction, a new head, which is semi-final and Argentina.”
