Thomas Tuchel loves Jude Bellingham’s “fire” but England’s candid head coach revealed his mother finds some of the midfielder’s on-field antics “repulsive”.
The 21-year-old star’s edge has helped fuel a breathtaking rise from Birmingham to Real Madrid, via Borussia Dortmund, but also led to questions over his temperament.
Bellingham was angry with officials on Tuesday after his equaliser against Senegal was ruled out following a contentious VAR intervention for a handball by Levi Colwill.
The midfielder kicked a water cooler after the 3-1 loss and the following day Tuchel made some extraordinary remarks about him in an interview with talkSPORT.
Put to the head coach that some fans think England would be better off without Bellingham, he said: “I struggle to see that.
“I think it has to be the other way around – how we can have the best version of him and the best acceptance, that people understand what he is bringing to us and that he is bringing a certain edge.
“But I see that it can create mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see.
“If he smiles, he wins everyone. But sometimes you see the rage, you see the hunger and the rage and the fire, and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive, for example, for my mother, when she sits in front of the TV.
“I see that but in general we are very happy to have him. He is a special boy.”
Tuchel’s love for Bellingham is clear, saying “he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things”.
The England boss also dismissed any talk the midfielder might be hard to manage, saying it has been “very easy so far” as he is “a nice kid and very open, very intelligent”, but knows he could be an intimidating figure.
“The edge needs to be channelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate team-mates, or to be over aggressive to team-mates or referees,” Tuchel said.
“But (channel it) towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning. We are on that, yes.
“He has the fire. I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire. That’s his strength.
“But the fire comes also with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a team-mate.
“You see sometimes the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game, so if he can channel this in the right way and we can help him in this, then for sure he has the something that we need. And he has a certain edge that is hard to find.”
