Atlanta, July 15 (IANS) England boss Thomas Tuchel said there is no issue between him and Jude Bellingham after the midfielder’s response to the German’s criticism of the performance against Norway. The coach added that he and Bellingham are “close than ever before.”

After England beat Norway 2-1 in the quarterfinal, Tuchel wasn’t happy about the team’s match performance and said the Three Lions were “sloppy, lucky” and not good enough in “every sense”. Bellingham seemed a little annoyed by what Tuchel said about the team’s performance and said “Yeah, well, whatever. It’s difficult out there – it’s a tough shift.”

Tuchel revealed he spoke to the squad to clear the air the following day and claims there are no issues whatsoever with Bellingham ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina.

“I wonder who blows these things up, eh? So, there is nothing to blow up and if it’s blown up, it’s blown up in the media, of course,” he told talkSPORT. “What do you expect of a player that just played 120 minutes and gave literally everything if you shorten the comment of his coach, if you don’t tell him that ‘he was world class’, if you don’t tell him that ‘he has world class actions’. If you just cut all this and tell him ‘oh, your coach said you were sloppy’ what do you expect?”

Bellingham and Tuchel have had a testing relationship since the German took charge of the England national team last year. Last year, several media reports claimed a rift between Tuchel and Bellingham in 2025 when Tuchel described Bellingham’s behaviour as “repulsive” when the midfielder was visibly unhappy to being substituted in a match against Albania. But the pair cleared the air in a meeting earlier this year.

Tuchel said, “It’s just what it is but we’re as close as ever, and close more than ever before. You can see that on the field. The energy and mentality in camp is excellent in the last days and we are ready to go for it tomorrow,” Tuchel added.

–IANS

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