England won their first two matches under Tuchel, scoring five goals without reply against Albania and Latvia but fell to an African team for the first time as Senegal crushed them 3-1 on Tuesday night. The result was overshadowed as Jude Bellingham had a furious reaction to his goal being disallowed by VAR for a Levi Colwill handball.
Tuchel has called on Bellingham to "channel" that angry energy which can lead to an "edge" in his game which he thinks can be used for good on the pitch.
"Yeah, it needs to be channelled. The edge needs to be channelled towards the opponent, towards our (aim), and not to intimidate the team-mates or to be over-aggressive towards the team-mates. Team-mates or referees, but towards opponents, yes, and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning. And we are on that.
"He has the fire and 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.”
Bellingham’s brother, Jobe, has just made a huge move to Dortmund this week and will make an impact for England men’s under-21 squad in the UEFA U21 EURO Finals in Slovakia as they prepare for their first game on Thursday. Tuchel spoke on whether he could be selected for the World Cup next year and revealed that any player can be selected if they prove themselves at the highest level consistently.
“It works well in his family.
“It starts World Cup season, in August for me. The start of the season after the Club World Cup. World Cup season, if you’re ready at that highest level, you can be selected. If he’s playing, then of course.”