Bellingham’s immaturity and petulance upsets boss Tuchel despite his side’s incredible record in qualifying.
‘He has to accept the decision’: Tuchel criticises Bellingham’s immaturity and petulance in England win.
During England’s 2-0 victory against Albania last night, Thomas Tuchel stated that “behaviour is key” and expressed his disapproval of Jude Bellingham’s irate response to being replaced.
In the 84th minute at the Air Albania Stadium, Bellingham, who had a poor performance after returning to the starting lineup, did not appear pleased to learn that Morgan Rogers would be replacing him. Following Harry Kane’s second goal of the game, the midfielder joined in the festivities, but Tuchel was dissatisfied as he threw his arms in the air.
“He has to accept the decision,” England’s head coach said. “His friend is waiting on the sidelines so you need to accept it, respect it and keep on going. I have to review it. I saw he was not happy. To a certain degree if you have players like Jude who are so competitive they will never like it but my word stands, it is about standards and a commitment and respect to each other. So someone is waiting and we will not change our decision because someone is waving their arms.”
Tuchel has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the collective. “Morgan Rogers was for sure not happy when he couldn’t start today because he deserves to play for us and he wants to play all the time,” the German said.
“We gave him a bit of a rest because he came with a lot of minutes for his club and played against Serbia. I don’t want to make more out of it but I stick to my words ‘behaviour is key’.”
Tuchel was pleased that England finished Group K with eight victories out of eight and no goals given up, securing their spot at the World Cup for next summer. Despite not playing at their best against Albania, they managed to win again courtesy to a late double from Kane, who has now eclipsed Pelé’s record of 77 goals for his country.
“We just mentioned it in the dressing room,” Tuchel said. “This cherry on top of everything is that he overcomes Pelé today. The investment of Harry in these matches is just outstanding. He is so invested in everything that we do.
“If you see him play for Bayern Munich, I have to say it’s the same. He’s in a mindset and a physical condition that is absolutely at the highest level. He produces goal after goal for us, and the way he works, tracks back, finds solutions in offensive play. It’s just outstanding at the moment.”