Thomas Tuchel: Balancing Bellingham's Fire with Team Discipline

England manager Thomas Tuchel seeks to channel Jude Bellingham's intense passion into a positive force for the team, as they aim to end their trophy drought since 1966.

England manager Thomas Tuchel aims to utilize Jude Bellingham's intense passion, described as “fire,” in a positive way for the team, rather than letting it manifest as frustration towards teammates or referees. This comes after Tuchel's side suffered a 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal, their first loss under his management.

Bellingham thought he had scored a late equalizer for England at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, only for the goal to be controversially disallowed. The situation escalated further when Senegal scored a third in stoppage time. After the final whistle, Tuchel had to restrain Bellingham's protests.

Thomas Tuchel said he understands criticism of Jude Bellingham after England's defeat to Senegal on Tuesday 😳 pic.twitter.com/GxGyVgurbP

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“He has a certain something and brings an edge. It's needed if we want to achieve big things,” Tuchel told talkSPORT, highlighting the importance of Bellingham's passion. Tuchel emphasized the need to balance Bellingham's fiery personality with team discipline, ensuring his intensity benefits the team rather than causing issues.

“It needs to be channelled towards the opponent and towards our goal, and not to intimidate teammates or be aggressive towards teammates or referees, but always on winning.

“He has the fire - I don't want to dim that, he should play with that as that's his strength.

“But the fire also comes with some attributes that can intimidate teammates. Sometimes you see the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game.

“If he can channel this in the right way, he has something that we need, and that edge is hard to find.”

Thomas Tuchel, a decorated manager with Champions League and league titles under his belt, was appointed to lead England to a major tournament victory, ending their drought since 1966. The team had previously reached the finals of two consecutive European Championships and had strong showings in the last two World Cups under Gareth Southgate.

Tuchel has a talented squad at his disposal, but so far, he hasn't quite found the right mix. England's World Cup qualifying wins over Albania, Latvia, and Andorra were underwhelming, and the friendly loss to Senegal didn't help. “I already have an idea of what to do,” Tuchel said, looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, which is just a year away.

Senegal become the first African side to beat England, handing Thomas Tuchel his first defeat as Three Lions boss 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/WsCegXVZWn

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“We did some experiments in the second camp, not everything was bad, we did some good things, but the two games were not good enough.

“It was a good learning and it brings clarity. Each game is a learning situation and helps us mould the team and find solutions.”