Not many people can announce they look good in a hair net and genuinely mean it, but then again the level of confidence at Jude Bellingham’s disposal is not the average amount.
The morning after Thomas Tuchel’s maiden England camp came to a close, a promotion dropped with Lucozade, with whom the midfielder signed a lucrative contract last year. He swapped the velvet blue cap for a nylon blue hat, smirking that he had made it work.
Bellingham recently visited the drinks company’s home factory in Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, to film bits and bobs about a new juice whose label is emblazoned with his face. The blurb suggests he collaborated to determine the flavour and branding.
Presumably the hairnet wasn’t his idea but he seemed personable enough and down to earth while wandering the factory, a place pumping out thousands of Bellingham bottles an hour.
Yet given what happened the night before this short video hit the internet, the thing Tuchel may wonder over the coming months is how best to keep a lid on the fizz inside his best player.
Bellingham can, on occasion, be easy to shake and once that happens, England and Real Madrid cannot afford that top to be unscrewed. Latvia knew this on Monday, with their late tackles and niggling at set-pieces aimed at provoking a reaction from the No 10 who was fortunate not to see red after an ill-advised lunge at Raivis Jurkovskis.
Already on a booking, albeit one Tuchel felt was unjust, Bellingham ought to have the experience not to give the referee a decision to make. The low-key status of the qualifier, Latvia barely leaving their own third, the night feeling a touch laboured, probably helped referee Orel Grinfeld turn a blind eye.
It certainly saved him a headache, the sort of which was endured by Jose Luis Munuera Montero last month after he sent off Bellingham in Real Madrid’s draw at Osasuna.
In its simplest sense, the crime was swearing at an official and the moment saw debate rage in Spain around the interpretations of ‘f*** you’ and ‘f*** off’. Carlo Ancelotti claimed the referee couldn’t understand the English nuances and Bellingham wrongly insisted his two-match ban would be overturned on appeal.
Irrespective of what he had said, he aimed profanities at a referee. You can’t do that. Not really, not that directly.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick called it disrespect, a weakness, and wondered why any player other than a captain would waste energy debating decisions. But Bellingham might find himself in that position at international level soon, with some calling for the 21-year-old to be included in Tuchel’s yet-to-be-announced leadership group.
What a sending-off on Monday night might have done for his chances is unclear, but it is very likely Bellingham would have been forced to trudge down the tunnel had this been the opening night at the World Cup or any game of greater consequence.
‘I don’t want to guess what the referee says,’ Tuchel said. ‘I didn’t understand the first yellow. He didn’t get sent off so we shouldn’t make a drama now like he was flying home. He didn’t get sent off and we took him off and we won 3-0. I’d take this if it was the first match in the World Cup.’
A good, solid defence of his talisman by Tuchel, though the German did make an admission. ‘Generally, he knows he can’t afford it,’ he added. ‘He’s emotional and he’s also still young, so it’s part of his game.’
In the way in which Bellingham plays on the edge, comparisons can be drawn with Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney. England need to harness this passion, this will to win at all costs, while staying mindful of what happened at Osasuna and the general disgruntled barking at team-mates that can lead to him losing focus.
The fact Tuchel removed Bellingham from the scene almost as soon as Jurkovskis hit the deck suggests the manager is across this part of his character.
Tuchel deals with all this superbly in public, it must be said. Bellingham — who has bought into the new regime over the last week — may not have been best pleased at coming off against Latvia because he is the sort of impact performer who wants to be out there as much as possible. The manager gave him a friendly pat, but equally Tuchel won’t pander to Bellingham.
When discussing Jordan Henderson’s absence from Ajax’s recent Europa League match at Eintracht Frankfurt, Tuchel was reminded the midfielder’s suspension had come as a result of swearing at an official. Quick as a flash, he replied: ‘Did he? I thought only Jude is doing that.’
Disarming humour will take Tuchel a long way in this job and that goes for his handling of the superstars, too. There is an acceptance his main objective for the next 15 months is finding the best way to extract the maximum from Bellingham.
Myles Lewis-Skelly — who was almost deemed too raw for selection in England’s 26-man squad — drifted inside from left back at times to play alongside Declan Rice against Latvia, freeing up Bellingham without the need for another No 6. It should be an idea to which Tuchel returns in the future, perhaps in June if he picks Bellingham ahead of the Club World Cup.
Equally, when Lewis-Skelly was occupying a more conventional left-back position, the triangle of Bellingham, Rice and Morgan Rogers recycled possession nicely.
Bellingham and Rogers go way back, the former a year younger but going to the latter’s fifth birthday party owing to a friendship between their parents.
They lived about five minutes from each other throughout childhood, both were picked for England Under 15s, and they were rivals with Birmingham City and West Brom respectively at academy level. So in a small part of the West Midlands on Monday night there were cheers and a sense of pride.
Rogers can definitely offer something different in this set-up, though the spotlight will forever be reserved for his mate. The way Bellingham took six Albania players out of the game in two seconds on Friday was proof of that, first in wriggling clear of assailants and then with a defence-splitting pass for Lewis-Skelly to score on debut.
Tuchel enjoyed it but wants more. ‘He (Bellingham) had some highlight moments but sometimes it felt maybe he was trying to do too much,’ he said after that 2-0 win. ‘He is always ready to give everything. We need to help him within a structure where he can play more economically and still have the same, maybe even more impact.
‘We need to make sure the leaders, the main players, the key players walk in the same direction, play in the same rhythm and help each other out, and play a little bit more disciplined maybe, to save energy for the decisive moments.’
By discipline, Tuchel means positionally. He wants Bellingham to link up more with his winger, not roam quite so much. But the Galactico from Stourbridge can definitely work to channel his emotions for his own and England’s benefit, too.
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