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Comments from England head coach Thomas Tuchel slightly overshadowed Jude Bellingham's two goals against Norway last week.
Bellingham now has six goals at this World Cup and has had a remarkable tournament, coming up huge in the most crucial moments when England has needed him the most. With back-to-back two-goal games in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, he has been one of the biggest reasons England is now in the semifinals.
But after England’s quarterfinal win over Norway, Tuchel was critical of the performance from a quality and technical standpoint, saying England "made life very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played, sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough. We were lucky today."
Tuchel added, "It’s a pure mentality thing; there was no mentality problem. You could bottle it up and sell it," Tuchel said. "It’s the quality of our games. It’s nothing to do with mentality; it’s about quality. We need to play better."
When Bellingham was asked about Tuchel's criticism, he said, "Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions," before praising Norway as a difficult team to face and noting the heat in Miami.
FOX Sports analyst Zlatan Ibrahimović believes the full context of Tuchel’s comments may not have been presented to Bellingham by the reporter, which played a part in Bellingham’s response.
"I think it’s misinformation, because if Jude would have seen the interview with Tuchel, he would have answered differently — 100%," Ibrahimović said.
Thierry Henry agreed with Zlatan’s sentiment, but also believed the back-and-forth was nothing major. Henry said there are no issues in the England camp and that the attention should be on the game itself, especially with the rivalry between England and Argentina ahead of their semifinal at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday, July 15.
"Nothing has changed for me," Henry said. "If you want to see what I’ve said, watch it again.
"We need to talk about the game. That’s the most important thing. What animosity? There is no animosity in there. There is nothing in there. And I agree with Zlatan. He didn’t know how it was phrased to Tuchel. That’s about it. I’ll leave it there."
"They’re playing well in the way that they want to play," Henry added. "They’re fighting and coming back. We’ll think about the style later on."
FOX Sports analyst Alexi Lalas had no issue with the back-and-forth between Bellingham and Tuchel.
"I don’t think it’s a problem. I actually love it," Lalas said.
"I think it’s important for Tuchel to do something a little different in terms of the way that he reacted and make sure that the players know that they have plenty of work to do, and that they can and must get better if they ever hope to have it coming home.
"And I love the fact that Jude stood up for himself and stood up for his teammates. So, I don’t think the dynamic changes. I still think that they respect each other, even though they disagree with each other, maybe in this instance."
England will take on Argentina on Wednesday, July 15, at Atlanta Stadium for a spot in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, at New York/New Jersey Stadium. Spain has already confirmed its spot in the final after beating France in the other semifinal in Dallas.
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