Jude Bellingham appeared to be caught off guard by Thomas Tuchel’s negative response to England’s 2-1 win over Norway.
Tuchel was disappointed with the Three Lions’ performance in their quarter-final victory as they came from behind to advance into the last-four.
The manager, who cut a very frustrated figure on the touchline throughout the game, ranted post-match to ITV.
He said: “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today.
“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four, it’s amazing, but I’m not happy with the performance…in every sense.
“The commitment is there, but we made life difficult in the way we played, how we played, sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough, we were lucky today.”
Tuchel then went on to clash with the interviewer pitchside, as it was suggested that those issues could come from mentality issues.
He scoffed at that suggestion and remarked: “This is pure mentality, how can you ask about that now… it’s not about the mentality.
“There is no mentality problem, it’s the quality of our games, it’s nothing to do with mentality.”
What did Jude Bellingham say about Tuchel’s comments?
Bellingham was then asked later on for an opinion on Tuchel’s negative review when speaking post-match.
England’s hero shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in reaction, going on to simply say: “Yeah well, whatever.”
He then continued: “It’s difficult out there, it’s difficult, it’s a tough shift.
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“All the players have put in a tough shift.
“So my thoughts and appreciation go out to the players out there who put in a great shift again.”
Commenting on whether he feels as though this is England’s tournament, Bellingham responded: “Game by game.
“Next is either Argentina or Switzerland, we approach it with the same mentality as we approached all these games and we’ll see what can happen.”
A good thing
Gary Neville loved Bellingham’s comments, as he declared it shows that England now have winners in their squad with the right mentality.
And Neville was also a big fan of Tuchel’s angry comments post-match.
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He said on ITV: “That’s why England appointed Tuchel.”
The German has taken the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final, which they will play on Wednesday, July 15.
They are now just two wins away from ending 60 years of hurt and getting their hands on the Jules Rimet trophy.
As for his thoughts on Bellingham, Neville purred: “I have seen [Paul] Gascoigne and [Michael] Owen rip it up at major tournaments, [Wayne] Rooney in 2004.
“But I’ve never seen a player in my lifetime have an impact like Jude Bellingham.
“It’s very special what we are watching, he’s everything and more.
“It was a struggle, a massive struggle, but we got through. To get to a World Cup semi-final is massive. They’ve got something about them.”
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