Thomas Tuchel has said Jude Bellingham’s behaviour can be “repulsive” during extraordinary comments made about his star player in a radio interview.
Speaking with talkSport in a wide-ranging conversation at St George’s Park, in the wake of a disappointing 3-1 defeat by Senegal in which Bellingham came on as a second-half substitute, Tuchel was asked whether he could understand why some fans think England would be better off without the 21-year-old in the team.
“I think it has to be the other way around,” Tuchel replied. “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.”
While the German manager may have misspoken while talking in his second language, he went on to suggest that Bellingham’s on-field behaviour can be “intimidating” for his own teammates.
“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 team-mates, or to be over aggressive to team-mates or referees.
“But 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 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.”
Tuchel’s comments come after Bellingham was spotted furiously confronting an assistant referee during the loss to Senegal, and then seen kicking a drinks cooler.
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