Thomas Tuchel lobbed a grenade into the mix. Jude Bellingham picked it up and threw it back. An explosion of honesty erupted in Miami, where everyone was struggling to maintain composure in the stifling humidity, and it needs to be dealt with before England try to reach a men’s World Cup final for the first time on foreign soil.
Tuchel was searing in his immediate analysis of England’s quarter-final win over Norway, telling ITV’s Gabriel Clarke that the performance was sloppy, not fast enough and full of technical mistakes. Praise for the side’s mentality was there but slightly lost in the noise. It was the criticism that Bellingham was asked about and the way he responded, punching back at Tuchel’s comments with some forthrightness of his own, ran the risk of England’s campaign falling down because of a public disagreement between the head coach and the star player.
“Tuchel and Bellingham clash publicly after England's quarter-final win, ahead of World Cup semi-final against Argentina.”
Bellingham was curt in one interview, shrugging and raising his eyebrows before saying: “Yeah, well, whatever … it’s difficult out there,” and went further in another. “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Ødegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sørloth,” the midfielder said, a comment interpreted in some quarters as aiming a dig at Tuchel’s modest playing career.
The inevitable worry is it indicated that tensions in his relationship with Tuchel have not been fully repaired. The manager took a hard line last autumn, dropping Bellingham from the squad over talk of team dynamics and the dressing room hierarchy. Bellingham rose to the challenge, meeting Tuchel’s demands and forcing his way back into the XI before becoming England’s driving force at this tournament.
Meanwhile, pundits lined up to criticise England’s display. Mike Grella, a former Leeds United forward working for CBS Sports, said: “The bad news is you’re not very good at football. You’re not good with the ball or in transition. You leave unbelievable spaces in between the lines. By English standards, a really poor performance. It’s impressive how poor you are and are still able to get away with a win. It’s like having the world’s ugliest daughter and saying ‘oh, you’re so beautiful baby’.”
Troy Deeney, also on the CBS panel, added: “In wide areas we are average at best, when it’s 0-0, we’re playing with the shackles on. They told us that they were going to play front-footed football. There’s so many questions over what we see compared to the result.”
England now face Argentina in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, live on BBC One. It is time for cool heads.