Thomas Tuchel lifts lid on Jude Bellingham talks after spikey Norway interviews

All is well between Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham, says the England boss (Picture: Getty Images)

England

boss

Thomas Tuchel

has downplayed any disagreement between him and

Jude Bellingham

ahead of the

World Cup

semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday.

The Three Lions booked their place in the final four on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over Norway after extra-time in Miami.

Bellingham was the hero again for England, scoring both goals as he took his tally for the tournament to six.

Despite the win,

Tuchel spoke after the game about being unimpressed with his team’s performance in general.

He was thrilled with their mentality and commitment as they managed to escape a testing game with a victory, but was disappointed with their level of quality, saying the team was lucky to progress.

After the game it was put to Bellingham that Tuchel wasn’t happy with the performance and he told

ITV

: ‘Yeah well, whatever. It’s difficult out there, it’s a tough shift, all the players have put in a very tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation go to the players who put in a great shift yet again.’

He added in another interview: ‘Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these conditions against

Erling Haaland

, [Martin] Odegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against.’

Tuchel has certainly got the best out of Bellingham during the World Cup (Picture: Getty Images)

There were concerns of a rift between manager and star player, but Tuchel has dismissed those concerns and explained how the matter was settled.

He pointed out that Bellingham was only presented with his criticism and not his positive comments about the attitude of the players against the Norwegians.

‘No problem. I spoke to the whole team after, which was basically the same message,’ said the England boss. ‘And I explained it again yesterday to just move on. Then, straight away, we talked about Argentina.

‘Our comments come from the same place, from having the edge when competition is on.

Bellingham has scored four goals in the last two England games (Picture: Getty Images)

‘He (Bellingham) was just confronted with the negative side. I called him a world-class player. I said he had produced world-class actions again, that the mentality of this team is outstanding.

‘All of that was not part of the question. So he was confronted with, “What do you think? The coach said you were sloppy”.

‘I’d maybe bite back if I came from 120 minutes, scored two, gave everything. It’s a normal reaction for a player of his mindset.’

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England captain

Harry Kane

had already played down any problem, saying Bellingham gave a normal reaction in the circumstances.

]When you play a game like that, and get asked a question straight after the final whistle when he hasn’t known what the manager has said, it’s like, what do you want Jude to say?’ Kane said.

‘It’s easy to try to create this division, it seems to be an English thing to do at these tournaments.

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