JUDE BELLINGHAM has been warned: ‘England can win the World Cup WITHOUT you’.
Boss Thomas Tuchel also revealed the Real Madrid midfielder is in a THREE-WAY fight with both Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze to start for the Three Lions in the No 10 role against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
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Thomas Tuchel has warned Jude Bellingham England will win and lose as a team Credit: Getty
Tuchel has laid down the law to Bellingham ahead of the Costa Rica friendly Credit: Getty
England face Costa Rica in an Orlando friendly tonight, with Eze — along with Arsenal team-mates Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke — hoping to get some minutes after being given extra time off after the Champions League final.
Asked about Bellingham’s importance, Tuchel said: “Well, we have a lot of proof we can win football matches without Jude and that’s the more important headline.
“Jude is with us. Jude is in amazing form but we have to stop talking about individuals. Jude will not win this World Cup alone. It’s simply impossible. No one will win this World Cup alone.
“We win it as a team. What will we do if Jude has an injury tomorrow?
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“Hopefully, he does not get one. But we have Harry Kane, we have Declan Rice, we have Jude, we have Morgan, we have Bukayo Saka.
“We have big, big players and some of them will be on the bench. Some of them will come on in the end. Some of them we will need in extra time.
“Some will take a decisive penalty. Some will start and we will do this as a team. Otherwise we have no chance.
“Of course, I understand the fascination. Of course. I have the same fascination.
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“I see these players every day on the training pitches. You don’t need to convince me of the quality of Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane.”
Tuchel paused for thought yesterday when asked whether his biggest decision is who to select in the prized No 10 role behind Kane.
He said: “Hmmm. Let’s see. That is a big decision, because all three players are competing against each other.
“Ebs has also played as a No 8 and also on the left wing for us, so these are starters who can play at the highest level.
“There are a lot of arguments for all of them starting, so we need to get the energy right between them.
“They need to understand that not all of them will start all of the time, at the same time, and they can play decisive roles when they finish the matches.
“And they can still be upset with my decision, angry and not aligned with my decision.
“But they have to accept it and then push their team-mates because we are not in club football.
“We are in a tournament of hopefully eight matches, so everything is more important than the individual minutes you get — so we need to push each other.
“This is what they do at the moment. Jude and Morgan are, in general, very, very close with each other. They are fighting for this spot.
“There is also a chance that Jude plays in another position. He can play as the No 8 for sure and Morgan can play on the wings.
“But we also have top players in the No 8 and on the wings. We will not go through the tournament with ten [outfield] players.”
Maybe Bellingham, who did well when he came on as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 friendly win against New Zealand, will deliver a blinding performance today.
But you still get the impression, certainly at this stage, that Aston Villa midfielder Rogers will get the nod in the first match at No 10.
However, Tuchel is happy with Bellingham over this last week.
Asked if he is giving Real Madrid star Bellingham, 22, extra work after missing some of the season in Spain, Tuchel added: “No, not at all.
Bellingham is fighting for the position against Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze Credit: Getty
Tuchel added there was a chance Bellingham could play another position if needed Credit: Getty
“We monitor individually but Jude needs no extra loading in the training.
“Of course, we monitor every training session and, if someone is not exposed to the loads we want to give, we can always top up with some runs or extra work. But this is not related to his injury or to his minutes.
“He is in a sweet spot, meaning he has not over-played and he is not over-used and mentally, he comes from a mentally sharp place full of joy because he comes back from an injury.
“I am happy he is in a sweet spot. The more players in a sweet spot the better.
“But it is a long tournament and the guys we pick against Costa Rica, the guys we pick against Croatia are not necessarily the guys that we pick all nine games from now on.
“We need a lot of players. We need to share a lot of minutes and the more players who are in a sweet spot, the better. Jude is clearly one of them at the moment.”
