England’s Thomas Tuchel criticises Jude Bellingham for aggression

England manager Thomas Tuchel has a reputation for straight-talking, and he has not held back when discussing Jude Bellingham’s attitude. The Real Madrid superstar cut a frustrated figure this season in Spain, and increasingly has seen backlash for his complaints at both officials and teammates.

Undoubtedly Bellingham’s commitment and will to win were two of the traits that won over the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu early on. However his discipline was increasingly an issue last season, at one stage missing four out of five games at a crucial stage of the season due to suspension. In total, he was booked 11 times and received two red cards, and he has now been dismissed twice for dissent. Previous manager Carlo Ancelotti did have words with Bellingham over his discipline.

Tuchel’s mother ‘would be repulsed’ by Bellingham behaviour

In an interview after England’s recent win over Andorra (1-0) and defeat to Senegal (1-3), national team coach Thomas Tuchel admitted that Bellingham’s behaviour has gone over the top at times.

“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,” said Tuchel about Bellingham to talkSPORT, as quoted by Sky Sports.

“If he smiles, he wins everyone. But sometimes you see the rage, you see the hunger and the rage 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.”

Tuchel was keen not to remove the aggression that can be positive for his game, but did concede that sometimes it can have a negative impact on his teammates.

“I think he has a certain something. I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve. Yeah, it needs to be channelled. The edge needs to be channelled towards the opponent, towards our [aim], and not to intimidate the team-mates or to be over-aggressive towards the team-mates. Team-mates or referees, but towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning. And we are on that.

“He has the fire and 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 team-mate. 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 and he has a certain edge that is hard to find.”

The debate over Bellingham’s best position

Meanwhile there has been plenty of debate in the Spanish capital over where he will play next season. New manager Xabi Alonso has suggested that he could play deeper, or ‘more efficiently’, and Tuchel still sees him playing closer to the forwards.

“From outside, I thought for many years that he could be a No 6/No 8, then he had this amazing season where he played like a false nine for Real Madrid and scored and scored and was involved in chances.”

“I still see this hunger. The determination that he has to be on the scoreboard, to have his name there, which is a good thing. But I see this what I normally see only in strikers. I think now at the moment he’s more of a No 8/No 10 than a No 6/No 8. Maybe a No 10.”