Bellingham masks Tuchel’s flaws

When Gareth Southgate was appointed England manager in 2016, the team was at rock bottom following a calamitous exit at the last 16 stage of Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland.

Over the eight years of his tenure Southgate reconnected the team with the supporters and delivered a first ever European Championship final appearance, a first final in a major tournament on foreign soil, the countries third World Cup semi final appearance and was one penalty away from delivering a fourth.

In the context of England history he outperformed every manager with the exception of World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey.

However, when he departed the role, he left with a narrative that he should have achieved more, that he should have won a major trophy. His defensive tactics, his inability to influence big games with substitutions and his loyalty to certain players were all considered as holding England back from ending years of hurt since 1966.

Following his departure, the FA appointed Thomas Tuchel as his successor. Gone was the St George’s Park lineal progression of managers (Under 21’s manager Lee Carsley had a mixed spell as caretaker), gone was the leaning towards an English coach, Eddie Howe for example was not available. Instead the FA chose to appoint a man who ticked none of the boxes the FA would usually look for, other than his proven track record of success at club level. For the first time since Fabio Capello, England had gone short term and targeted someone they believed would help the country make the final step to winning a major tournament.

Tuchel began his reign by immediately criticising Southgate’s performance at Euro 2024 saying the team played not to lose against smaller nations, said they had no identity, no rhythm, and no clear playing style. It’s rare for an incoming manager to criticise his predecessor, but this is a mark of the confidence, bordering on arrogance that Tuchel possesses.

Qualification was easy for Tuchel, he sailed through the group with maximum points and Englands place at USA 2026 was confirmed. Many an England manager had navigated this stage of their tenure with strong results but this has rarely been replicated in tournament football. Warning signs were there though as friendly results against Senegal, Uruguay and Japan were vastly different to those recorded against the likes of Andorra, Latvia and Albania. Defeats against Senegal and Japan and a draw against Uruguay suggested that perhaps Tuchel was not getting the best out of the players at his disposal.

Jude Bellingham was left out of the squad and personally criticised by Tuchel for his conduct on the pitch, squad stalwarts such as Maguire and Grealish were cast aside and potentials stats Foden and Alexander-Arnold were rarely used if at all. With the strong qualifying performance, squad and team selections couldn’t be criticised but the results and performances against Senegal and Japan in particular left question marks over the quality of the players Tuchel was selecting.

When the World Cup squad was announced, Bellingham was in, but Alexander-Arnold, Shaw, Hall, Maguire, Wharton, Foden, Palmer, Gibbs-White were all left out with Tuchel selecting the likes of Quansah, Spence, Henderson and Toney. It was a bizarre squad selection with Tuchel seemingly selecting players who would be happy not to play at the expense of players with undoubtedly better quality. For a manager so self assured it was bizarre to see almost an admittance that he would be unable to man manage the likes of Maguire and Foden if they were in the squad but not in the starting eleven.

While there were doubts over results against stronger nations and squad selection, Tuchel had been appointed to win the World Cup so any assessment of his performance had to wait until the games kicked off in America.

First up was Croatia, a nation ranked in the top 20 of world football but whose star players were nearing  40 years old. A Kane penalty and a Kane header from a corner (what was that about Southgate’s reliance on set pieces?) gave England the advantage but concerns over the defence were justified as England conceded two goals to be level at half time. Bellingham scored just after the break and Rashford late on to secure the win.

Bizarrely after the game all the focus was on a supposedly rousing half time speech delivered by Tuchel which changed the course of the game - this was reported by journalists not said by players in post match interviews, it was almost as if Tuchel and his agent were briefing the media to elevate his role in the win.

Next up was a clash with Ghana. What followed was a dull 0-0 draw. One late Harry Kane chance apart, England never threatened to unlock the Ghana defence. The abundance of pace selected in the squad in Gordon, Rashford and Madueke were no good against a low block, and the absence of Palmer and Foden from the squad meant there were no alternatives from the bench. England were probably fortunate not to lose the game as a reckless Konsa tackle probably should have given Ghana a late penalty.

The final group game saw England take on Panama who Southgate’s squad demolished 6-1 in 2018. The bizarre selections by Tuchel started to take effect. With Reece James and Tino Livramento selected as the right backs the risk was that their chequered injury records would catch up with one or both of them at some stage. Livramento had been ruled out of the tournament but Tuchel chose to call up a sixth centre back rather than another right back and so when James also went down with injury, England were forced into playing Quansah at right back. Fortunately Panama had very little attacking threat to worry England but again they laboured to victory. Second half goals from Bellingham and Kane secured the win but it was pretty clear that aside from those two the team and the individuals in it were well below par. The results and the performances were so reminiscent of Southgate’s England, winning first and third group games and drawing the middle game had become something of a template. The sluggish nature of the wins was also familiar, the difference being that Tuchel was being hailed as some sort of inspirational, astute coach while delivering much the same as  the tactically naive Southgate.

The knockout stages saw England paired favourably with DR Congo, the sort of draw Southgate was accused of benefiting from on his run to the latter stages of competitions. With Quansah injured, another right back change saw Spence start and he was involved as a shaky England defence conceded the opening goal.

At half time England were 1-0 down - obviously no inspirational team talk from Tuchel on this occasion as the second half followed a similar pattern to the first with England rarely threatening. Again England lacked players to unlock a packed defence, and the right back debacle took another step as Declan Rice was moved out of midfield to play there are England chased an equaliser. Eventually England scored two late goals to get the win, but these did not come from tactical changes or substitutions which changed the flow of the game, they came from two world class finishes from Kane which gave a scoreline that the performance did not deserve.

The last 16 draw saw England travel to Mexico. The joint hosts had a good record at the Azteca Stadium - something that was repeated over and over in the build up to the game, as was the altitude factor with the staring being located so high above sea level. While this was true, Mexico had played their group games there with no mention of altitude  but suddenly you couldn’t move for hearing or reading about how tough it would be for England. Closer inspection of the opposition Mexico had faced at the ground also suggested the impressive home record might not be so impressive - the media briefings were working though for Tuchel, this was now being seen as an incredibly tough game for England when the reality was they were playing a team whose star man would be Raul Jimenez would playing in the English Championship the following season.

The game will always be remembered by England fans, kicking off at 2am, a 3-2 win, down to 10 men, penalties at both ends and a backs to the wall battle. But analysis of the game should have alarm bells ringing for England. Mexico were by far the better side in the first half, but got caught for two goals in a minute, one on the counter attack, one from losing possession in their own third. Tuchel’s England are set up for that and credit has to be given for having the players to take advantage of those scenarios. Both goals though relied on the individual brilliance of Bellingham and even after that Mexico should at the very least been level at half time but wasted numerous chances.

The right back issue again reared its head on the second half as Quansah made a reckless tackle and was sent off, hardly surprising when such an inexperienced player is asked to play out of position in a World Cup last 16 game. Tuchel went full Southgate and withdrew the attackers, employed a back five and tried to hold out for the win. The defenders were heroic and England held on but it was another far from convincing performance, masked by the late defensive effort with 10 men.

Again, England had won but again, was this any different to the football and results under Southgate? The only difference was, one is being led by a tactically astute winner, and one was led by a tactically naive ‘loser’

On to the quarter finals and with all the possible opponents, Norway with only Haaland and Odegaard as real stars was another favourable draw. Not dissimilar to the 2018 QF with Sweden or the 2021 QF with Ukraine, occasions when Southgate saw England through to the semi finals very comfortably.

Again right back was an issue, Konsa now moved to RB as Quansah was suspended and James not fit to start. Madueke also started in front of Saka - a strange selection considering Saka eventually played 75 mins so was fit to start. Rice also started despite being ill all week. England had the better of the first period but failed to register a shot and then went 1-0 down. Bellingham scored a cracking goal just before the break, but the performance had again been poor. Madueke and Rice were replaced at half time showing them to be poor initial selections and were replaced by Eze and Saka, with Bellingham who had been so dangerous in the number ten role dropping deeper.

It felt impossible but the second half performance was worse than the first and shortly after reversing his initial selections with half time subs, Tuchel then had to reverse his half time changes to get Bellingham back in the number ten role. This meant removing Gordon to push Eze wide and bringing on RB James into midfield. With Gordon’s removal, all pace had gone from Englands front line and they offered absolutely no threat and were fortunate Norway had a goal disallowed by VAR.

Tuchel was unable to change the flow of the game, the opposition dominated the ball, the attack had no pace and Kane remained on the pitch even though he was completely ineffective - sound familiar?

Bellingham probably managed to save Tuchel’s job with his winner in extra time but yet again England had stumbled to through a knockout game. Tuchel’s reputation for being a tactical genius, the scenario master, not to mention his enormous wages surely mean England fans have the right to play expect more than to continually under perform and rely on the individual brilliance of Bellingham and Kane to progress against vastly inferior opposition.

The media analysis should also be a lot fairer. The football, the performances, the limitations, the inability to affect the flow of the game were all supposed trademarks of Southgate yet they are being repeated by Tuchel. Southgate was pilloried for how his teams performed at tournaments while Tuchel is being lauded as a winner who is ‘finding a way’

The reality is without Bellingham and to a slightly lesser extent Kane, England would be out of this tournament and in all likelihood Tuchel would be out of a job. Just remember in his tournaments, Southgate had already faced the likes of Germany, Colombia and France by this stage so any ideas that he benefited from favourable draws are a myth. Tuchel has had similar if not better draws, he has a similarly talented pool of players even if he chose not to use them and has the benefit over Southgate of having a genuine world superstar in Bellingham.

England face Argentina next and then a potential final again Spain or France. Tuchel may match Southgate’s achievements, he may exceed them. But, if he does, that will be down to one man and that man is certainly not Tuchel, it is Mr Jude Bellingham.