England manager Thomas Tuchel has said he understands criticism of Jude Bellingham after the midfielder’s emotions boiled over during the shock defeat to Senegal on Tuesday, adding that the coach’s own mother can find his behaviour “repulsive.”
Bellingham passionately argued with officials over his disallowed equaliser due to a handball that would have levelled the scores at 2-2. Instead, England fell to a 3-1 defeat at the City Ground, their first loss ever against an African nation.
In an interview with TalkSport on Wednesday, Tuchel defended Bellingham but said he can see why some fans turn against him.
“I think he has a certain something,” Tuchel said. “I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things. It needs to be channelled. The edge needs to be channelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate teammates, or to be over aggressive to teammates or referees.
“But [channel it] towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning. We are on that, yes. He has the fire. I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, that’s his strength. But the fire comes also with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a teammate.”
“You see sometimes the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game, so if he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him in this, then for sure he has the something that we need. He has a certain edge that is hard to find.”
Bellingham has already provided some magic moments for England in his young international career — notably scoring an overhead kick against Slovakia to save the Three Lions from being knocked out at the round-of-16 stage of Euro 2024.
When asked if England would be better off without Bellingham, Tuchel said: “I struggle to see that. I think it has to be the other way around: How we can have the best version of him and the best acceptance and that people understand what he’s bringing to us and that he’s bringing a certain edge?
“But I see that it can create mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum that she sometimes cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see and the smile.
“If he 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, I see that, but in general we are very happy to have him, he’s a special boy.”
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Meanwhile, Tuchel suggested he is tempted to seek a contract extension as England manager beyond the 2026 World Cup up to the 2028 European Championship, despite his team drawing criticism for recent poor performances.
Tuchel, whose contract runs through the end of the World Cup, said: “I will always be tempted to stay because I love the group and the opportunity, it’s an honour to be England coach. I can tell you that even after the disappointment yesterday.
“If you ask me today, yes. I am enjoying it, I feel the support, trust and respect of people in the FA. I wanted a new challenge and environment.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
