Ian DarkeOct 12, 2025, 04:55 AM ET
- Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most recognizable soccer voices.
Thomas Tuchel has already demonstrated throughout his club coaching career with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich that he is not afraid to ruffle feathers or argue with his bosses. That is why his appointments are often short-lived. And that tendency to never avoid confrontation was very evident in his decision to omit England’s star player, Jude Bellingham, from the squad for this month’s games against Wales and Latvia.
However, you dress this up — and Tuchel denies that he has a problem with Bellingham — it is apparent that the England boss is making a point, and arguably aiming a shot across the bows of his most gifted player. Why? Reading between the lines of many a dispatch from the England camp, it seems there is an issue with how the Real Madrid star’s demeanor has been received by some of his teammates.
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He is a perfectionist whose body language can occasionally seem a little disdainful of less gifted colleagues. Are these accusations fair? Or is Bellingham simply trying to improve those around him to get results for the team? You suspect the player himself has, until now, been unaware of the vibes surrounding him.
Though Bellingham himself has admitted he maintains a “macho image” to deflect from personal vulnerabilities, which suggests he is hearing the current mood music.
“You notice when he is not there,” England teammate Anthony Gordon said. “He is a big presence, such a big player,”
No one is denying Bellingham’s importance to England’s World Cup mission as both creator and scorer. If the squad were to be selected tomorrow, he would certainly be included. And those who know him well, such as his good friend Jordan Henderson, describe him as a “brilliant character.”
But even going back to his Borussia Dortmund days, there were stories that some more senior players took exception to the then-teenager giving them a piece of his mind if things were going wrong.
It is easy to forget how much has happened to Bellingham. He was a fixture in Birmingham City’s team at age 16 and has since played 282 club games and 44 times for England. He has become an A-list global celebrity. So it is somewhat excusable for anyone to get a little giddy on that phenomenal success.
But here is Tuchel sending a message that he should take nothing for granted, that there are other No. 10s — such as Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers or Morgan Gibbs-White — on the radar. In other words: “Fight for your place like everyone else. There are no favorites here.”
The head coach astounded reporters last year by saying that his mother sometimes found Bellingham’s on-pitch behavior “repulsive.” He has since retracted that unfairly incriminating remark and apologized, but the quote did appear to reflect a level of dissatisfaction with how the player conducted himself.
It seems Tuchel wants a slightly modified version; a great tourist as well as a great player.
But is he right to do so? It is reminiscent of England’s only World Cup-winning manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, who liked to keep even his most trusted players guessing back in 1966.
His magnificent goalkeeper Gordon Banks left an England camp in that era with a cheery “See you next time, boss.”
“Will you?” was Ramsey’s icy response.
Jude Bellingham will look to play an important role for England under Thomas Tuchel in next summer’s World Cup. (Photo by Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
So what we are witnessing here may be Tuchel’s attempt to mold a World Cup squad free of the tensions that have undermined many a campaign for several teams, notably favorites France with their memorable row in 2010 and Spain (prior to their glut of trophies in more recent tournaments) on the frequent occasions when the rival Barcelona and Real Madrid players simply would not mix.
This week, legendary England midfielder Steven Gerrard said the talented national teams he played in failed because they were “egotistical losers” with petty cliques of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool players barely speaking.
So building a unified squad that pulls in the same direction is paramount for Tuchel, as it was for his predecessor, Sir Gareth Southgate.
It would have been easy for the England boss to explain the cold shoulder for Bellingham as an injury-related issue. He has, after all, been recovering from shoulder surgery, albeit featuring five times for Real Madrid since that operation, including starting the Madrid derby against Atlético.
But, typically, the German made it clear that it was a decision based on form, and said Bellingham had “no rhythm” in his play yet.
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Besides, he wanted to reward the players who put in a breakthrough display for him with a 5-0 win in Serbia by naming an unchanged squad, even though he had to replace injured winger Noni Madueke with Bukayo Saka.
Yet it is fair to deduce that there is another agenda at play here, namely, the quest to head to the World Cup next summer with a happy band of brothers bursting with the team spirit that can make the difference in tight games.
Tuchel, like Ramsey 59 years ago, is going to do the job his way, even if it puts some noses out of joint. He does not care about that.
It is not only a brave option, but the right one. Bellingham will return to the team determined to prove a point and, as the world-class player and top character that he is, he will have taken note of what his boss is telling him. It is all just part of the learning curve, and one day, he might reflect that the day England left him out made him realize how he could become an even better contributor to the cause.
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