Jude Bellingham was man of the match in England’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final win over Norway in Miami; the Real star scored twice to send Thomas Tuchel’s side into a semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday
Passionate, driven, uncompromising. Those are terms that can be equally applied to both Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham.
Both are supremely self-confident, honest and opinionated, and they expect the highest of standards from everyone around them. Both are winners, and want nothing more than for England to win the World Cup.
But here’s the rub – each has a different idea about how Jude Bellingham should best be utilised for England to try to achieve that goal. While the Real Madrid star has traditionally wanted a much freer role to influence the game, the head coach has told him to work within the team system he has devised.
Gary Neville had ‘no problem’ with the post-match exchanges between Tuchel and Bellingham
Tuchel’s deliberate tactic has been to use more stick than carrot with his talisman, to try to mould him into an ever-better player. His praise has always been measured, monitored and carefully targeted. Like an over-strict father to his precocious son, who can’t quite find it in himself to praise his brilliant offspring in public.
The German coach has very rarely praised Bellingham’s ability, nor his unique capacity to inspire his team-mates and drive the side on to a higher level. Instead, he has focused his compliments on the moments when Bellingham has toed the line, sacrificed himself for the team,
And, it could be argued, it has worked. Bellingham has been the best form of himself for England at this World Cup – eclipsing his performances for Real where the Galactico spirit hails all things individual, all things superstar.
If you look at his statistics from the quarter-final, you get the full picture of what a complete player he is. As well as the obvious attacking prowess, where he scored more goals, had more shots, more shots on target, and had more touches in the opposition box than anyone else on the pitch, he also won more duels and was second for the number of times he successfully pressured an opponent in their own half. Tuchel can claim much credit for that all-round dominance.
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