Forum: Should England coach have dissed his team? Whatever works
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“Whatever” – a usually harmless, nondescript word – suddenly became a lightning rod for trouble.
After England’s 2-1 win over Norway, their coach Thomas Tuchel criticised the team for being slow and making technical mistakes. He added that they were lucky to win. An upset Jude Bellingham reacted to this with a belligerent “whatever”.
With just this one word, Bellingham may have thrown away the feel-good factor that England took pains to build up for the World Cup, with many previous posts showing a united squad and high spirits.
This is probably why England have not won a major tournament for so many years. Whenever they enjoy some success, the players are placed on a pedestal and start to believe that they are invincible and that nothing can stop them. Bellingham’s response appeared to reflect this, and his game-winning performances against Mexico and Norway may have emboldened him to openly challenge the coach.
Usually, it does not end well for England. Tuchel, an elite manager who has won 11 major trophies, is someone who understands the danger of complacency after a big result. And his criticism after the Norway game reflected this. He did not want the players to get carried away, knowing there are potentially two difficult games ahead.
Bellingham even went an extra step to imply that the manager did not have a top-level playing career and therefore did not know what it is like to play in those conditions against a tough team.
At any other time, such insubordination would likely lead to a suspension in the next match. But Bellingham has now put Tuchel in a difficult position. Play Bellingham in the semi-finals and he risks losing the respect of the dressing room. Do not play him and he risks losing one of his best players. And this is a bad backdrop to go into a game of significant importance featuring a certain Lionel Messi.
So perhaps the best hope for Tuchel is that his words fired up the players so much that they go into the game with a previously unseen determination. As Tuchel will be the first to admit, he is here to win the World Cup, not the hearts of the players. He may simply have chosen to absorb the criticism to sharpen the team’s focus. Elite managers are not paid to make players comfortable; they are paid to make them champions.
Christopher Fong
