Jude Bellingham: Thomas Tuchel says ‘attitude is key’ after the midfielder’s reaction to being substituted

Bellingham was one of seven changes Tuchel made for England’s final qualifier and showed signs of his best both in attack and defence.

His last action was to celebrate Harry Kane’s second goal, before the fourth official raised his number, leading to what former England defender Stephen Warnock described as an “angry” reaction from the Real Madrid man.

When asked about this in his post-match press conference, Tuchel added: “I have to review it. I saw that he was not happy, and I don’t want to make it bigger at the moment than it is now.”

“My words stand firm, we talk about standards, level, commitment to each other and respect for each other. We will not change or make a decision just because someone waves their arms.”

Tuchel had previously referred to Bellingham’s behavior on the pitch as “disgusting”, for which the German later apologized.

Despite Bellingham’s disappointment, he applauded the fans when he came off and did “the right thing” according to Warnock by shaking Tuchel’s hand on the touchline before taking his place on the bench.

Warnock added on 5 Live: “There was an element where he was like, ‘How do I deal with this?’”

“Maybe there were words said to him when he left the pitch. Dan Byrne approached him, and Phil Foden also approached him because they saw how upset and disappointed he was. ‘Don’t do anything stupid’ – maybe that’s what he was told. The big word from Tuchel was respect.”

“If you’re going to win the World Cup, you’re going to have to play small sometimes. You might not play every minute you want to play, you’ve got to do what’s best for the team. The game has changed.

“Bellingham will have to take it on the chin and just say ‘Okay, I’m going to have to change a bit to fit in’.”

Conor Coady was in the England squad alongside Bellingham for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and said that Bellingham deep down will know Tuchel made the right decision.

“When the dust settles, Judd will know it was the right decision to take him out,” Cody told 5Live. “What’s the matter with Judd, he thinks in the moment he’s playing catch-up.”

“He missed the last camp, and he knows Morgan Rogers did a really good job. He wants to play every minute he can to show the manager he can be England’s main man.

“We saw that tonight with the balls he was losing, he was losing simple balls and trying to be too adventurous sometimes in his own half. I think he feels he’s playing catch-up. Rogers is in a great position.”