“He did what he did best,” Tuchel said of Bellingham. “He competed on the highest level and showed he deserves, and has, to be in the squad.”
Ever since the announcement on October 3 that Bellingham would not be in Tuchel’s party for last month’s games against Latvia and Wales, all eyes had been on this morning’s announcement. Because that decision — to leave him and Foden out — was the single most important and interesting one the German has made in his 10-month England tenure to date, far more so than the decision to bring Bellingham back.
It dominated the conversation for the course of that October international break, far more than the two matches themselves, or even the fact that England had sealed qualification for the World Cup. Everyone expected that would happen at some point. Nobody expected they would do so with Bellingham sitting at home. And now that England have shown they can succeed without the 22-year-old — victorious in all four games without him across two windows — the onus is on him to prove that he can “contribute” to continuing that winning energy.
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But go back to that day last month when Tuchel did not include Bellingham and he gave two reasons for doing so.
The first was that he wanted to show loyalty to the players who had performed so well in September, when they beat Andorra at home and thumped Serbia 5-0 away, a performance that felt like a turning point in the Tuchel era. He wanted those players to feel backed, even when stars such as Foden and Bellingham were available to come back in.
Ever since his October non-selection, people have wondered whether it was a message to Bellingham, a way of showing him who was in charge, of bringing him into line. Tuchel was asked this today and he insisted that no, it was not a message against Bellingham, but rather a positive one in favour of the previously selected players.
“It was more of a message to the guys who were in camp, rather than a message for Jude, because there was no need for that,” Tuchel said. “For the guys to keep their place even if guys like Jude, like Phil, are knocking on the door and claiming their right to be back, which is their right to claim that. That was more the message.”
The second reason that Tuchel gave last month was that Bellingham had not yet “gathered full rhythm” with Madrid following his late September comeback after shoulder surgery in July. On October 3, Bellingham had only started one club game this season and was yet to play for 90 minutes in his four appearances. That is clearly not the case now.
Bellingham has started Madrid’s past five games on the spin, completing the 90 minutes three times. He scored in three straight games, against Juventus, Barcelona and Valencia, and also produced a perfectly-weighted pass to assist Kylian Mbappe in El Clasico. Even though he had a difficult time against Liverpool in midweek, before then he had started to look back to his best.
It had not been an easy start to the Xabi Alonso era for Bellingham, having to miss the beginning of the season and then find his feet while recovering from surgery. It has certainly been a big adjustment for the whole Madrid squad from Carlo Ancelotti’s more player-led approach to Alonso’s strictly planned tactics. The Athletic reported last month that some players were upset over how little freedom they had to express themselves now, and how Alonso’s new ideas had been “imposed” upon them.
The debate about Bellingham’s best role and best position is as much of a feature of the Madrid discourse as it is for England. Back in June, during the Club World Cup, Bellingham said he was at his best when given the “freedom to be a complete player”, and that Alonso agreed with him on this. And initially Alonso said that he saw Bellingham’s best role as “closer to the box”. But in practice, there is still plenty of midfield work to be done, and it certainly feels as if the precise calibration is a work in progress.
Tuchel certainly knows how he intends to use Bellingham from here.
He explained on Friday that he sees him as a No 10 now, making the most of his ability to get into the box and score goals. That will put him into competition with Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa, who has been excellent for England in the past two camps, as well as Foden, who will also be used in a central role.
But the most interesting question is how Bellingham will fit back into the group dynamic after missing the September and October get-togethers.
Tuchel was in no mood on Friday to go back over his well-publicised June comments about Bellingham — describing it as “water under the bridge” — but insisted again that he does not have a personal issue with him. The job for Tuchel and England is to manage and channel Bellingham in the right way, and to get the whole team pulling in the same direction for the World Cup next June and July.
“There is no problem; there is no problem with him, there is no problem with the character,” Tuchel said. “Jude just has the edge, which is a very good thing because you need a certain edge to reach the heights that he reached, and I think we all need to help him, and to encourage him, or to create an environment that he can live this edge towards the opponent, towards the goals that we are building as a team. That is the main target.”
Ultimately, the job for Bellingham is to fit back into the group ethos, which is now stronger than ever. Everyone knows that those autumn camps he missed were a big success, both on and off the field. Now that he — and Foden — are back in the squad, their job is to keep that rolling, to show that the team ethic comes before any individual.
“Now that they are coming back — Phil and Jude — the message is now: ‘Make sure you keep this thing going, and make sure you accelerate the thing. Because we have something going here, we are building something. We are super-excited that you are back but the message is: contribute to it’.”
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