Thomas Tuchel has insisted England can win the World Cup without Jude Bellingham, delivering a brutal message to the Real Madrid star on the eve of the tournament. The England manager made clear that Bellingham faces a three-way fight with Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze to start in the No10 role against Croatia in the group opener on June 17.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Tuchel said: “Well, we have a lot of proof we can win football matches without Jude and that’s the more important headline. Jude is with us. Jude is in amazing form but we have to stop talking about individuals. Jude is in a sweet spot. But Jude will not win this World Cup alone. It’s simply impossible. No-one will win this World Cup alone. We win it as a team.”
“Tuchel warns Bellingham he could be dropped, saying England can win the World Cup without him.”
The German coach stressed that the decision on the starting lineup is far from straightforward. “It is a big decision because both players who are competing, or all three players who are competing, Ebs played for a no 8 and also on the left wing for us. So there are starters on the highest level all three of them and there are a lot of arguments for all of them starting so we need to get the energy right between them.”
Tuchel warned the players they must accept not starting every match. “They need to understand that not all of them will start all of the time at the same time and they can play decisive roles when they finish the matches and they can still be upset with my decision, angry and not aligned with my decision. But they have to accept it and then push their team-mates because we are not in club football, we are in a tournament of hopefully nine matches so everything is more important than the individual minutes you get so we need to push each other.”
On the relationship between Bellingham and Rogers, Tuchel said: “Jude and Morgan are in general, very, very close with each other. They are fighting for this spot. There is also a chance that Jude plays in another position. He can play in the no 8 for sure and Morgan can play on the wings. But we also have top players in the 8 and on the wings. We will not go through the tournament with 10 players.”
The warning comes as England prepare for their first match, with Tuchel making it clear that individual stardom will not guarantee a place in the side.