​Thomas Tuchel faulted his England side for being “lucky” and admitted he was unhappy with how they played, even though they booked a World Cup semi-final spot. His remarks, however, were dismissed by England’s match-winner Jude Bellingham, who called the 2-1 extra-time win over Norway “a masterclass.” England rallied from a deficit thanks to two strikes from the Real Madrid midfielder, but Tuchel, the head coach, expressed criticism of his players’ performance.
“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves,” Tuchel said. “The result is fantastic, but I’m not happy with the way we played.” When pressed on what exactly he was unhappy about, he elaborated: “In every sense. The commitment is there, but we made life very difficult with how we played—sloppy, not enough precision, not enough repetitions, lots of technical mistakes. We were lucky today.”
Bellingham responded to Tuchel’s critique by saying: “Whatever. It’s difficult out there, it’s a tough shift. My thought and appreciation is with the players.” Asked whether Tuchel’s blunt honesty reflected his high standards, Bellingham added: “Maybe. But maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa, Alexander Sorloth… they’re not an easy team to play against. I think we’ve tried to foster a positive environment and will carry that into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads. You can’t win every game by passing the ball around endlessly; sometimes you have to win dirty, and we did that today.”
Tuchel insisted his appraisal did not put him at odds with any player, insisting there is no disconnect. “A lot of things to do better. It’s not a problem, but no disconnect from me to my team—not one per cent. I am with my heart and fully in love with my players. I’m proud and happy and feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes to take the next step. They refuse to lose and overcome obstacles and adversity. But I’m also a football coach and I have demands. We want to bring out the best in us in every performance, because performance helps you win games. It’s just like this. My head is not fully satisfied and I am not 100 per cent happy with the way we played. I stand by it. I think we can play faster. I think we can be more clinical.”
England enjoyed a stroke of good fortune ahead of Bellingham’s goal in the first half when the ball appeared to strike one of the Spidercam wires and fall to Elliot Anderson. Norway also had a second goal disallowed following a VAR review. On that luck, Tuchel added: “We are lucky in decisive moments.”