England manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he plans to speak to Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham over his role with the national team.
Despite being one of the biggest names in English football currently, Bellingham was left out of Tuchel’s squad for the October international break. While the manager argued Bellingham’s absence was down to fitness—he had only just returned from shoulder surgery—the spotlight intensified on a player whose attitude he described as “repulsive” in June. Tuchel later apologised, pointing to a poor choice of words in his second language.
Bellingham is one of a number of players currently on the outside of the group, and Tuchel confirmed he will soon speak with the Madrid star to discuss how to proceed.
“He’s an important player, he’s a big player, I will speak to a lot of players, also to the guys who will get texts from me who were not in camp,” Tuchel said. “Especially them, because the guys who are now here, they have the reward and they feel the reward and it’s now necessary I stay in touch with the other guys.
“No one has done anything wrong, it’s not a punishment or whatever, and I feel when I text them or speak to them everyone is eager to come back. This is how it has to be and I have trust in more than [just] the players who are here.
“We always speak about the same names, but we have Conor Gallagher, we have Trevoh Chalobah, we have Cole Palmer injured, and a lot of other guys out there who deserve to be with us and are hungry and determined to be with us, and it has to be like that.”
Attitude Above Everything for Tuchel
Tuchel’s warning for all those looking to force their way back into his plans, including Bellingham, was a simple one. While on-field performances are key, the England boss is ready to demand a behavioural code which every player must understand and accept.
“If we invite them, we are sure they will buy in, or we will not invite them,” Tuchel stressed. “Why would we? This is, how do you say, a non-negotiable.”
“[Inclusion] has to be deserved first of all, and it needs to make sense, but I need to get my head around it. On Monday we’ll have a review of the camp and then ask also my assistant coaches, who are more experienced in World Cup qualifiers than me.”
Tuchel has less than a month to plan his next squad ahead of the final round of World Cup qualifiers. Serbia are due at Wembley on Nov. 13, three days before England travel to Albania. The Three Lions have already wrapped up top spot in their group, opening the door for Tuchel to “share some minutes” around his squad.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Non-Negotiable’—Thomas Tuchel Plans Jude Bellingham Talks Over England Future.
