Thomas Tuchel praised Jude Bellingham’s buy-in to the team ethic after another man-of-the-match performance from the 22-year-old drove England through to the knockout stages of the World Cup. The head coach has consistently called on Bellingham to adapt the way he plays for Real Madrid when in an England shirt, and he is convinced the midfielder is a more potent force now because of it. “We have to work in patterns and we have to work in units for the amount of attacking threat,” Tuchel
explained. Tuchel vows ‘the bigger the game, the bigger England will be’Panama 0-2 England – Match report and reaction | As it happenedKnockout bracket, third-place table and fixturesWorld Cup day-by-day schedule | Latest: World CupFollow our World Cup coverage in the Sky Sports App “If we all just play in freestyle no one knows what the other one is thinking. If we are in units I feel we get the understanding better and better, and Jude is a part of it because it is not
only about the pattern, it is about the quality in the pattern.” Bellingham has been man-of-the-match twice in England’s opening three World Cup games. He has scored two of England’s six goals so far, and also contributed an assist, meaning he has been directly involved in 50 per cent of their goals at the tournament. But against Panama, he was also the most important player when England didn’t have the ball, winning more tackles (4) and more duels (11) than anyone else on the pitch.
“I’m not sure if it’s a reaction but it is what we want from him,” said Tuchel. “He has been very positive from the first day in camp. He is fully into all the things from him as a team player, and he brings his individual quality to decide football games. “That is what you see in World Cups now and what you see from other teams and other big players. He is a key player. And he buys into all the things that we
demand of him as a team player. Well done until now. He needs to keep on going.” Bellingham is one of only three England players who have scored so far in the World Cup. Marcus Rashford has one goal, and Harry Kane has three – becoming England’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer. But Tuchel is not worried about what others see as an over-reliance on Kane and Bellingham. “We want these guys in the key moment and show up. I am convinced that Nico O’Reilly
almost did it against Ghana, Harry did it, Jude did it, and I’m sure Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Noni [Madueke] and Bukayo [Saka] will do it when the time is there, and we need that.”
Jude Bellingham, Thomas Tuchel, England, Panama, World Cup knockout stages, Real Madrid, man of the match, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Nico O'Reilly, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka
So Bellingham is the whole team now? wild.
I didn’t even know England had a “unit” strategy lol. Sounds like the coach just wants Bellingham to play like he does for Real Madrid which… duh? But man of the match twice is pretty insane.
Wait is Tuchel talking about Real Madrid or England because those are two different teams?? Also the article says only 3 players scored but then there’s a bunch of names like Saka and Gordon… so which is it. I swear headlines be mixing stuff up.
“The bigger the game, the bigger England will be” sounds like motivation poster talk but ok. If he’s winning duels and tackles and still scoring/assisting then yeah he’s probably carrying the vibes. Also Panama 0-2 isn’t exactly the toughest test but two man-of-the-matches is two man-of-the-matches.