Thomas Tuchel has warned Jude Bellingham that ‘behaviour is key’ after the England midfielder protested against his substitution during the 2-0 win in Albania.
Harry Kane had just scored his second goal in the 84th minute when, with Bellingham on a yellow card, Morgan Rogers was stripped on the touchline.
But the Real Madrid star waved his arms when realising he was about to be replaced, and Tuchel will now review the incident.
‘I saw that he was not happy,’ said the England boss. ‘I have to review it. To a certain degree, if you have players like Jude who are so competitive, they will never like it. But my word stands – we are about standards and a level of commitment to each other and respect to each other. So if someone is waiting outside, we will not change our decision just because someone is waving with their arms.
‘I don’t want to make more out of it, but I stick to my words, “behaviour is key” and respect towards the team-mates who come in. Decisions are made and you have to accept it as a player.
‘That is the decision and he has to accept the decision. His friend is waiting on the sideline. You need to accept it and respect it and keep on going. Jude was also on a yellow card and we made the decision before the second goal. The decision stands.’
England boss Thomas Tuchel has issued a warning to Jude Bellingham about his behaviour
The Real Madrid star was unhappy about being substituted during England’s win over Albania
He sulked into his seat on the bench after being replaced by Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers
It was put to Tuchel that Bellingham had not celebrated with his team-mates in the wake of Kane’s goal, but footage shows that he was part of the group who congratulated the scorer.
Tuchel said: ‘That’s a bad impression, first of all, it’s your impression, and that’s bad because it should be about the collective, and I think what we did in camp is all about the collective.
‘I have to then review it, because I was very happy about the goal, I had a quick talk with Morgan Rogers, and I was sure that everyone would celebrate together — I will have a look at it. But that’s not the image that we want to transport, because we feel that everyone is committed and everyone accepts also tough decisions, be it before the match or in the match, it excludes no-one.’
Tuchel added: ‘Morgan Rogers was for sure not happy when he couldn’t start today because he deserves to play for us and he wants to play all the time. We gave him a bit of a rest because he came with a lot of minutes for his club and played against Serbia. Morgan didn’t like it to be out and also did not deserve to be out.’
