For Bellingham to wants to fight his way once again into England’s top team, it would be smart to eliminate the unnecessary reactions. His response when he saw that the substitute board was about to come up after an evening of inconsistency in Tirana fell short of expectations.
"I don’t want to overstate it but I stand by my words 'attitude matters' and respect towards the squad members who substitute on," stated Tuchel. "Decisions are made and you must accept them as a player."
The midfielder must understand. There was no call for a strop. Kane had just put England 2-0 up in a dead rubber fixture, with only six minutes remaining and Bellingham, after a below-par performance, received a caution for a foul on an opponent. This was hardly a debatable decision. Indeed it might have been reckless for Tuchel to leave Bellingham on because it was possible the midfielder would be suspended of the initial fixture of the World Cup by picking up a second caution.
Yet Bellingham made himself the center of attention. No one could overlook the player's annoyance when he clocked that his replacement was ready for a teammate. He flung his arms in the air and while he exchanged a handshake while heading to the sideline it was obvious that Tuchel was not impressed.
This is the challenge for Bellingham. He congratulated Marcus Rashford for providing the assist for the captain to score the team's second, but the rest was self-defeating. It is not as if protesting was going to change Tuchel’s mind. Tuchel has talked so much about following squad protocols and the value of behaving correctly.
The midfielder, omitted from the previous squad, has faced close inspection since coming back to the fold this month. Essentially he has been on trial and he has not done himself any favours with his response to being taken off as the national team wrapped up a perfect qualifying campaign by seeing off a spirited effort from Albania.
This implies opinions are divided on how the squad perform optimally when Bellingham plays. The evidence here was inconclusive. Tuchel tried new things by the coach in the beginning. He has provided the team organization and direction in recent months, building with a holding player, a box-to-box player, an attacking midfielder and specialist wingers, but the approach changed versus Albania. Jarell Quansah was given his first cap, Wharton made his first start for England and the use of Stones as a part-time midfielder meant there was faint echo to the Manchester club's historic treble-winning side.
Bellingham had ups and downs. He created an opportunity for Eze during the second half but often looked overly eager to shine. There were a lot of poorly executed passes. There was a needless bit of aggro with an Albania midfielder at the beginning. England were ragged during most of the second period. One Albania chance resulted from he lost the ball cheaply. His booking was shown after he was dispossessed to Broja and brought down the former Chelsea striker.
In the end the squad's strength was decisive. The coach brought on Foden, who looked better suited to the spot in which Bellingham operated earlier in the match, and Saka. Later Saka delivered a corner for the captain to open the scoring. It was a reminder that dead-ball situations will play a key role at the World Cup.
However, the focus was on Bellingham. The excellence of the winger's delivery for Kane’s header was somewhat overlooked due to the fuss of the Rogers substitution. When the match concluded, everyone was watching the midfielder. Tuchel walked up to his side and guided the Real Madrid midfielder towards the travelling England fans. Their relationship remains intact. The coach isn't ready to discard him at this stage. Yet whether the coach is prepared to give him the central position is still uncertain.
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