THOMAS TUCHEL wants Jude Bellingham to save his energy for decisive moments — and channel his emotions.
The Real Madrid midfielder played the defence-splitting pass that set up Myles Lewis-Skelly for the first goal of England’s 2-0 victory over Albania.
But boss Tuchel reckons there have been times, including at last summer’s Euros, where Bellingham tries to do too much.
He said: “He is always ready to give everything.
“But we need to help him so that within a structure, he can play more economically and still have the same impact — or maybe even more.
“We need to make sure that the leaders — and he is one of the leaders — and the key players walk in the same direction, play in the same rhythm and help each other out.
“And play a little more disciplined maybe, to save some energy for the decisive moments.”
Tuchel loves the passion that Bellingham shows.
The German said: “He loves to talk to the ref and the linesmen.
“Jude’s a very emotional player on the pitch and you just see he hates to lose. You see the desire to win.
“I think he’ll keep this hunger and learn to channel the emotions a little bit.”
Tuchel had his ups and downs managing superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain and can use that experience to help Bellingham flourish.
He said: “Jude is and will be a key player for us. And he is happy to take the responsibility.
“He’s always able to make the difference so we need to find the structure to make the most of it.”
Tuchel — whose next challenge is tomorrow’s game against Latvia — enjoyed his debut as Three Lions boss.
He beamed: “It still feels great. I love the group of players. Now we’ll try to squeeze the best out of them.”
Read the full article here
