England boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that the behaviour of Jude Bellingham can be ‘repulsive’ after the Real Madrid star lost his temper with match officials in the defeat to Senegal.
Thomas Tuchel has revealed that his mother finds Jude Bellingham’s on-field behaviour ‘repulsive’.
The Real Madrid midfielder lost his temper with match officials once again on Tuesday evening, as England suffered a brutal 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal at the City Ground. Bellingham was furious with referee Stephanie Frappart after his goal was ruled out thanks to a Levi Colwill handball in the buildup.
In response to the decision, he chased down the fourth official and kicked a water cooler.
He displayed similar behaviour in the aftermath of the Three Lions’ European Championship final defeat to Spain last summer. Bellingham also reportedly ‘lost it’ with then-manager Gareth Southgate and appeared to shout at him.
The 21-year-old has been involved in a number of other foul-mouthed tirades and aggressive incidents, too.
He was shown a red card after he ‘approached the referee aggressively’ and needed ‘to be restrained by team-mates’ against Barcelona in April and was heard calling a referee a ‘piece of s***’ against Espanyol in September.
Following the latest in a growing line of incidents, England boss Tuchel was questioned about Bellingham’s behaviour.
Thomas Tuchel: Jude Bellingham Behaviour Can Be ‘Repulsive’
Speaking to talkSPORT, Tuchel was told that some England fans feel as though the teams would be better off without Bellingham, to which he responded: “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 and that people understand what he’s bringing to us and that he’s 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 and the smile.”
He continued: “If he smiles, he wins everyone, but sometimes you see the rage, the hunger 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’s a special boy.
“I think he has a certain something. I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things.
“It needs to be channelled. 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.
“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. He has a certain edge that is hard to find.”
Despite question marks over his behaviour, Bellingham remains a crucial player for the Three Lions. The midfielder is heavily favoured to be named in the England 2026 World Cup squad, with Tuchel’s men currently top of their qualifying group.
