Thomas Tuchel has apologised for upsetting Jude Bellingham with his “repulsive” comment at the end of last season as he reflected on the surprise exclusion of Trent Alexander-Arnold from his England squad – and the awkward phone-call that went with it.
The head coach has given first call-ups to Elliot Anderson and Djed Spence for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra at Villa Park and Serbia in Belgrade while there were recalls for John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Tino Livramento, Adam Wharton, Marcus Rashford and Jarrod Bowen.
However, plenty of the focus was on players who will not be involved and that started with Bellingham, who is ruled out as he recovers from shoulder surgery, and his Real Madrid teammate Alexander-Arnold. Tuchel has also dropped Kyle Walker and Curtis Jones and there was no room for Jack Grealish.
Tuchel was keen to draw a line under the Bellingham episode, which erupted when he discussed the midfielder’s “edge” in a live interview with TalkSport, one that can make the player blow up during matches and come across in a way that “can be a bit repulsive”. Tuchel admitted his mother sometimes had mixed emotions when watching Bellingham play. What Tuchel most wanted to stress was that his choice of word in his second language had been poor and he was sorry.
“I used this word unintentionally,” he said. “There was no message, no hidden agenda. I fully understand that it’s my responsibility, that I created the headlines and I’m sorry for the upset. I should have known better. I should have done better. If someone makes the effort to listen to the whole answer he would clearly understand the appreciation that I have for the player.
“When I was aware of the headlines, I made contact straight away [with Bellingham]. Jude focuses now on his rehabilitation and we focus on Andorra and Serbia. Is it sorted? I hope so. It was in English so I don’t think my mum was fully aware of it. She had the right to be annoyed at me.”
Tuchel described Alexander-Arnold as a player who “needs to feel trust and love from his manager and teammates, from his club, his country, the fans”. He made the point that the right-back had a lot going on when he called him up for the first time in June for the away game in Andorra and the friendly against Senegal at the City Ground. He would give him minutes only against Andorra – as a 64th-minute substitute. Alexander-Arnold had just signed for Real Madrid, he was preparing for his unveiling straight after the camp when he would speak in fluent Spanish and then it was off to the Club World Cup.
Yet Tuchel also made it plain that the decision to drop Alexander-Arnold was based on merit, with Reece James and Livramento in better form. He also suggested that another right-back, Ben White, might have been selected if he had not been injured, thereby ending a lengthy international exile.
“I spoke to Trent, it was a difficult phone call but I wanted that he hears it from me, which he appreciated,” Tuchel said. “He was very clear that he’s desperate to come back and play for England. It is a competitive decision, first and foremost.”
Tuchel reserves the right to adopt different approaches with different players, which he appears to have done with Myles Lewis-Skelly. The 18-year-old left-back has been retained in the squad, despite having lost his starting place at Arsenal to Riccardo Calafiori this season.
after newsletter promotion
“When I called Myles up [last season]we had a long discussion and it was almost in a parental atmosphere – like, can we really accelerate his career onto international level,” Tuchel said. “Now we see that it is not so easy to keep the momentum for Myles, which is totally understandable.
“We were a part of his acceleration and I was so happy when we did it. But now it comes with a responsibility from us to not drop him on the first occasion just because he does not start. It is a fine line.”
Tuchel’s tenure has featured three wins out of three in qualifying and the loss against Senegal. His football has generally failed to quicken the pulse, which he attributes in part to him calling up a large number of players and the difficulty in building any rhythm across the March and June get-togethers, the latter being especially tough in terms of timing.
The fixtures will come thicker and faster in the autumn and Tuchel, having picked a leaner 24-man squad, is determined to instil clearer patterns and identity – and to see a spirit of collective sacrifice.
“The players need to drop their club hats, the way they play in their clubs and buy into our ideas,” Tuchel said. “We will see them. I’m very sure of that because they will be very clear.”
