Latest news with #GabrieleTuchel
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Thomas Tuchel, being fluent in a foreign language can be dangerous
Thomas Tuchel, the German coach who is the newish manager of the England men's football team, is a notable polyglot, eloquent in French and Italian and possessing a greater command of English than many of his predecessors in the job, including several of the native speakers. He is certainly a big improvement on Graham Taylor's 'do I not like that!', Sven-Goran Eriksson's 'first haff good, second haff not so good' mantra and Fabio Capello, who claimed he needed just 100 words of English to instruct his players, yet barely made it into double figures. Another ex-England boss, Steve McClaren, when managing a club side in the Netherlands, bizarrely decided communication was best achieved speaking English with a comedy Dutch accent. Tuchel's very fluency, however, has now caused a potential rift with one of his best players, the young Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham. Asked to comment on Bellingham's histrionics following a miserable defeat to Senegal this week, Tuchel heaped praise on his player but added that sometimes his 'rage and fire … comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive. For example, for my mother, when she sits in front of the TV.' Tuchel's grasp of vocabulary is commendable, yet lacks nuance. Frau Gabriele Tuchel may indeed be 'repulsed by' Bellingham's loss of temper, but for her son to say she finds the same behaviour 'repulsive' takes the criticism up a notch. 'Unpalatable' would have been a better choice. Or 'distasteful'. • Thomas Tuchel struggles to hide annoyance — in German or English 'Repulsive' is a strong word, summoning the instinctive human aversion to infection, injury and waste products. And if in time and translation the word is detached from describing his mother's reaction to the specific misdeeds and extended instead to cover the character of the miscreant, then Tuchel may find he has caused serious offence. Not least to Denise, Jude Bellingham's own mum.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Thomas Tuchel: My mother finds Jude Bellingham's behaviour ‘repulsive'
Thomas Tuchel has said his own mother finds Jude Bellingham 's behaviour 'repulsive' and the England midfielder needs to channel his anger away from his own team-mates and referees. Bellingham has started all World Cup qualifiers under Tuchel, who has seen the Real Madrid player 'intimidate' officials and other England players with his high demands. After coming off the bench in this week's friendly defeat to Senegal, he kicked a water cooler in frustration after having a goal disallowed at the City Ground. Tuchel, who will be without Bellingham for September internationals as the midfielder recovers from shoulder surgery, says the 21-year-old's conduct has even been noted by his mother, Gabriele, while watching matches on TV in his hometown of Krumbach in Germany. 'How we can have the best version of him and for people to understand what he's bringing to us and that he's bringing a certain edge,' Tuchel said. '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. '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.' Tuchel, who was speaking on talkSPORT, was interviewed live the day after the 3-1 defeat to Senegal, the first loss in England's history against African opponents. Bellingham's goal was ruled out after Levi Colwill was adjudged to have handled from a corner, sparking a furious response towards female referee Stéphanie Frappart. Jude Bellingham scores for England but it's ruled out for handball by Levi Colwill in the build-up ❌ Should this one have stood? 🤔 #ITVFootball | #ThreeLions — ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 10, 2025 'Jude 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 towards the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate teammates or to be over-aggressive towards teammates or referees, but towards opponents and always towards the solution, meaning towards winning and we are on that,' said Tuchel. '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, and 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 something that we need and he has a certain edge that is hard to find.' On the subject of team-mates supporting each other, Tuchel insisted that Jordan Henderson's return to the squad has been a success and claimed he has lifted the performance levels of others. The England manager was effectively saying the Ajax midfielder, 35 next week, is firmly in his plans for the World Cup squad next year. 'Since I saw him, observed him in camp, I am more convinced than ever that he is a very, very important addition to this group. Especially when we talk about connections, especially about setting standards and keeping the group up to the standards he is at the moment. He is the man that I don't want to miss,' Tuchel said. 'He is still lean, he's still fit, he still ready to push on an international level. I'm convinced he's ambitious, he pushes the group, he takes care of training, he takes care of the attitude. He brings players together. So we see different, better versions of players when Jordan is in camp than if he is not in camp.' Tuchel will travel to America next week and look at potential training camps for England ahead of the World Cup next year, with work needed to be done before qualification is secured. He will also watch Club World Cup games, but has raised concerns about the mental toll it will take on players. 'It's just like the amount of time the players will spend now in the US, the amount of time they will spend in hotel rooms and travelling feels just for me heavy, heavy on their shoulders. I can even understand that players, once the thing starts, get excited and get ambitious to add another trophy, but I think it's a long period of time for the players to be constantly switched on,' he said. Meanwhile, Tuchel has also suggested he would consider staying on after his contract runs out next year, even if England were not triumphant at the World Cup. 'I will always be tempted to stay because I love the group and I love the opportunity. It's an honour to be English head coach. I know what's coming after a huge tournament in England. I will always be tempted. I can tell you that, after even after the disappointing result,' he added. 'If you ask me today, yes, because like I said, I feel that I'm in the right place. I enjoy being where I am at the moment. I love the new challenge, I wanted a new challenge. I wanted the new environment. I feel the support, I felt the trust and respect of the people in the federation. I love a group of players, I want to push them. And it just feels right, so clear yes from my side until today.'
The Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
‘A bit repulsive' – Thomas Tuchel sends Jude Bellingham warning over behaviour that leaves his own MUM unimpressed
WHEN Thomas Tuchel's mum watches Jude Bellingham on TV, she sometimes finds him repulsive. And the England manager admits his star player is in danger of being more intimidating to his own team-mates than he is to the opposition. 5 5 5 Yet Tuchel is adamant that England need their Real Madrid Galactico if they are to have any hope of winning the World Cup. After a dire international break, which saw the Three Lions humbled in defeat by Senegal and dismal in a 1-0 win over minnows Andorra, Tuchel knows how he handles Bellingham - as a tactician and a man-manager - is central to England's chances. After Tuesday's 3-1 defeat at the City Ground, Bellingham was kicking water bottles and remonstrating with match officials, having had an equaliser disallowed following his arrival as a late sub. And Tuchel admits Bellingham needs to channel his anger more effectively to help the team - and also to win the affections of the manager's mother, former special needs teacher Gabriele. Tuchel told talkSPORT: 'Jude is bringing a certain edge but I see that it can create mixed emotions. 'I see this with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice, well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see. 'If he smiles, he wins (over) 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 is a special boy. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 5 'He has a certain something. He brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things.' This is a concern for Tuchel given that Bellingham is expected to miss England's key World Cup qualifier in Serbia in September due to his recovery from planned shoulder surgery. 'That's what he can give' - Stroppy Tuchel suggests Ivan Toney will NOT get more playing time due to 'specialist' role At 22, Bellingham is a serious talent and a Champions League winner. Yet there are aspects of his temperament which leave many wondering whether he will become the next Bobby Charlton or the next Dele Alli. Tuchel was candid in floating the idea that Bellingham's England team-mates might be intimidated by him. The German said: 'The edge needs to be channelled, the edge towards the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate team-mates, or to be over aggressive to team-mates or referees. 'But towards opponents and always towards the solution, towards winning. We are on to that. '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 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.' As for Bellingham's best playing position, Tuchel currently sees him as a No10 but with many attributes of a centre-forward. The Brummie was a prolific scorer as a 'false nine' during his early months at Real Madrid in 2023 and impressed Tuchel with a diving header from which he almost scored during the first match of his England reign, against Albania in March. Tuchel said: 'From the outside, I thought for many years that he could be a No6 or No8. "And then he had this amazing season where he played like a false nine with Real Madrid and scored and scored and was involved in chances. 'I still see this hunger. If you look at our first match against Albania and his diving header in the box. 'The hunger to go with his body in front of the defender to dive into this ball without any fear and the defender was with his foot and he was with his head, it just shows me the determination he has to be on the scoreboard. 'I see [in him] what I normally only see in strikers. I think now, at the moment, he's more of a No8 or No10. Maybe a No10.' Bellingham is close to Jordan Henderson and Tuchel admits the veteran Ajax midfielder's presence in the squad has much to do with his positive influence on team-mates. Tuchel said: 'Since I met Jordan and observed him in camp I'm more convinced than ever that he is a very important addition to this group, especially when we talk about connections, about setting standards and keeping the group up to those standards. 'At the moment he is the man I don't want to miss. 'He is still lean and fit, he is still ready to push on at international level. I'm convinced he is still ambitious. 'He pushes the group, he takes care of training, he takes care of the attitude. He actually brings players together. 'We see better versions of players when Jordan is in camp than when he is not.' For Tuchel and for Henderson, the key to success is finding the best version of Bellingham.
