Thomas Tuchel clears the air with Jude Bellingham after ‘unfair’ question: ‘It’s blown up in the media’

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The Independent

15 July 2026

Thomas Tuchel

insists there are “no cracks” with

Jude Bellingham

and believes the pair are closer than ever before despite the

England

star publicly hitting back at his manager.

The pair’s relationship has been under the microscope

since the German coach admitted last summer that his mother found some of Bellingham’s on-field antics “repulsive”.

Tuchel apologised for that remark and

Bellingham has sparkled under him this summer

, taking his

World Cup

tally to six goals with his brace in the 2-1 extra-time victory against Norway in Saturday’s

quarter-final.

open image in gallery

Thomas Tuchel has insisted the relationship between he and

remains strong (Getty)

The head coach said he was “not happy with the performance” but the

Real Madrid

midfielder did not take it lying down, challenging his manager’s view as he called for positivity.

Tuchel revealed he spoke to the squad to clear the air the following day and claims there are no issues whatsoever with Bellingham ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina.

“I wonder who blows these things up, eh? So, there is nothing to blow up and if it’s blown up, it’s blown up in the media, of course,” he told talkSPORT.

“What do you expect of a player that just played 120 minutes and gave literally everything if you shorten the comment of his coach, if you don’t tell him that ‘he was world class’, if you don’t tell him that ‘he has world class actions’.

“If you just cut all this and tell him ‘oh, your coach said you were sloppy’ what do you expect?”

Thomas Tuchel was frustrated by the incident (Reuters)

He continued: “Yeah, of course you get the comment that you get and then you try to blow it up and people try to create misunderstandings and cracks where no cracks are.

“We come from the same place. We come from being competitive and I am a competitive coach. I push this team to the limit and that was my assessment.

“I think the question was unfair in this moment towards Jude because he cut all the compliments out of my assessment and just asked about the critical points, so I can understand.

“What do you expect of a player that just gave everything and stands there in front of a microphone in a flash interview?”

Tuchel said: “It’s just what it is but we’re as close as ever, and close more than ever before.

“You can see that on the field. The energy and mentality in camp is excellent in the last days and we are ready to go for it tomorrow.”

Some of the comments frustrated Bellingham made after the Norway win

appeared to relate to Tuchel’s playing career.

Tuchel and Bellingham embraced after the final whistle in Miami (Getty)

The 23-year-old said: “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions” against players like Erling Haaland.

Tuchel freely admits he had a “mediocre career at best” but does not feel it has impacted his ability to coach.

“I would still like to have a player’s career, that was my dream,” he said.

“I never thought about being a coach, never dreamt about being a coach on that kind of level, so I think this is basically the dream.

“I just feel also on the sideline very humbled, and from time to time it just strikes me on the sideline right before the match ‘I couldn’t play here on this occasion’

“I don’t think that you have to play (to be a coach). A funny quote, you don’t have to be a horse to be a good jockey!’”

From Tuchel’s outcast to England’s kingpin, how Jude Bellingham silenced his critics at the World Cup

Tuchel-Bellingham ‘clash’ derails England as Argentina make ‘urgent request’ and Spidercam truth revealed

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