Jude Bellingham is ‘complete asshat’ as England urged to push Ange button
England, Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham dominate the discourse as the latter is both ‘repulsive’ and a ‘complete asshat’.
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Hey Jude…don’t be a pr***
A piece of crafty work from Thomas yesterday. He attributes his (and an increasingly large amount of fans) very real feelings that Jude’s behaviour is repulsive. Oh sure, he said it was ‘ his Mum ‘ – therefore guaranteeing that she won’t be invited to a Bellingham self-pity party anytime soon – but the underlying message wasn’t hard to read.
He can’t stand Jude’s primadonna antics. Bullying a female ref, assaulting a water cooler that can’t fight back, generally bitching, moaning and complaining about everything and anyone – it’s deeply unimpressive stuff. So Thomas would like it to stop clearly.
Unfortunately Jude has absolutely sod all self-awareness and a well-developed victim mentality. He thinks he was persecuted in the Euros? No, he was just rightly called out for being an arsehole and having a self-regard massively in excess of the quality he was putting out.
Try being Beckham in ‘98, now ‘ that ‘ was persecution. It would have been hard to find anyone outside of Manchester who didn’t loathe him for a time. And did he whine about how hard it was to be him? He did not, although he bloody could have. He kept his mouth shut, knuckled down and worked sodding hard. Then in four years time against Greece he was everyone’s hero. It was a mind-boggling transformation.
Do you think Jude will cut out the antics? Will he hell. The Bellingham machine will put out how disappointing it is to hear that from his manager and how let down he feels. And the victim complex will continue to be fed.
He could grow up, behave like a man instead of a brat and cut out the toddler rubbish. But he won’t and Tommy’s ‘ Mum ‘ will increasingly be in a very large majority in regards to his behaviour.
Seriously, what a complete asshat Bellingham is.
James, Liverpool
…Fallout from Senegal thrashing. Yikes this is accelerating fast. Perhaps Tuchel ought to have simply pounded his fist on the desk and called the squad a bunch of “Undersexed Whinging Poms, mate!” With a fake Aussie accent which might have got results. Direct, honest confrontational bullying.
But instead Tuchel’s passively aggressively calling out one of them as “a special boy who repulses mein mutter who is watching this, what do you say football, on television.” and he will have almost certainly lost the dressing room as a result. What will Bellingham reply now? With his newly learned Spanish something like “[expletive deleted] and your mama too!” There can only be room for one Prima Dona in any England squad and it’s not Tuchel.
Dan McG LFC
The truth: English players overvalued
I’ve got to agree with Andy H in Swansea who assessed the England players as not quite as good as they seem to us.
It happens again and again that English players, because they are well-known and popular members of “our Premier League” clubs, seem amazing. But outside of the English bubble – in Scotland or Wales, for instance, but also in Europe – people have a more neutral view.
This means that a defeat is not blown out of proportion as a if it were a sign of the football apocalypse. Especially if it’s a friendly, with a number of first-choice players not picked.
But it also means we don’t think England are going to win the World Cup just because good old Harry Kane is playing.
The truth is somewhere in the middle, there are a few really good players (I’m not starting the “world class” debate again) and for the whole team to achieve it takes a coach to choose the right structure and strategy to get the best out of them.
Southgate was a safety-first coach who managed to find a good structure – it wasn’t always eye-catching but it had defensive solidity.
Recently I have watched France – a greater array of talented players – and Spain playing really well. Portugal matched them playing in a system designed to get the best out of their attack.
Belgium are struggling, like England, from not having enough great players. Doku is a bright spark but seems to take on one player too many. De Bruyne and Lukaku were vital in overcoming Wales, but Mats Sels was probably their best player! Belgium are also adjusting to a new coach who is trying to instil his own approach. The defence is all over the place and the system doesn’t cover the poor quality of the four defenders.
But a year is a short time in international football and neither England nor Belgium seem capable of turning it around by next summer.
Paul in Brussels (btw Southgate benefitted from low expectations seven years ago, now it’s Tuchel must win the World Cup??)
READ: England World Cup ladder makes us almost cry as Henderson too high for comfort
It was a friendly, FFS
‘Turn on, tune in, drop out’ – Timothy Leary
The above is a famous phrase from the 60s about counter culture. I have one of my own when it comes to England matches:-
Turn off, tune out, drop in
Friendlies are irrelevant and should not be televised. All tickets should be a fiver for kids and a tenner for adults. Booing is banned. A reminder is shown on the big screen and by the stadium announcer ‘this is a kick about, we have a new manager who wants to asses his squad and try new things. the result doesn’t matter.’
It’s the equivalent of watching someone train at McDonalds, why would you do that ?!
‘Tommy Tuchel’ is new to the role. He will see more in training than he will on the pitch. Do you really think after a long season and the club World Cup round the corner players would actually be giving ‘110%’ (I know, I know…..)
Similar vibes with the qualifiers for the Euros and World Cup. Both competitions are now so big qualifying is guaranteed.
I watch England every 2 years, it’s much better for your state of mind. Over the last 10 years F365 could just reprint the same mails over and over again from angry fans who are disappointed and concerned. It only matters once the tournament begins. It’s a knockout competition, it’s not about being the best, it’s about being hard to beat, a bit of shithousery and scoring penalties. It’s why no matter how bad the Italian team and squad seem to be once they get to the tournament they always find a way.
So stop being angry, save your time, save your money and save your soul, turn off, tune out drop in.
Hong Kong Ian (of course you can give 110% but only once in a blue moon when everything goes your way) LFC
…William’s ass hat bigotry notwithstanding, I believe the primary point he was trying to make is that the desire to give all for your country seems to be missing currently. I can recall perhaps half a dozen times watching since 1970 when such commitment was unmistakeable, unshakable: 1970 WC group game vs. Brazil, 1973 WC qualifier vs. Poland, 1990 semi- vs. Germany, 1998 quarters vs. Argentina…
I also vividly remember the ugly and the insipid collapses/no-shows vs. Iceland 2014, Brazil 2002, most of the group games 2024… there are to be sure dozens more. So any pontifications about how uninspired England look right now must be weighed against the headless donkey cock that all of us oldies have been forced to endure.
Tuchel was the best man available. Southgate bolloxed up the last Euros. And Senegal are a good team. And making ten – TEN – changes inevitably would lead to a grand disconnect.
It’s a f- friendly. Get past it, because Tuchel already has.
And we’ll never win the World Cup next year in any case, the rest are just technically and tactically so much better.
Marcus Davidson
…England – who honestly gives a **** outside of a tournament ?
WTAF – will everyone chill out?
It’s the end of a long season, top players might well have played 50+ games in the last 9 months. A lot of internationals are about to have their first decent time off for the first time in 2 years. The England manager invites you to a squad to play against Andorra and Senegal. Your mind is basically on the beach. You barely need to play to beat Andorra, and then Senegal means zero, so can play at 25% pace if you can even be assed to do that much.
And yet people and pundits are analysing it for weaknesses as if we’ve just been knocked out of the World Cup. I watched the highlights of each game (I gave up watching meaningless qualifiers and pointless friendlies years ago, there aren’t enough hours in the day), and it was pretty much exactly as expected. England playing at snail’s pace, players just going through the motions. And why shouldn’t they. Alternatively, whichever utter moron at the FA organised the Senegal game should be fired. This is a totally pointless fixture, I just feel sorry for those that paid money to go and watch.
People moan that England are disjointed, and not playing fluent football. Only 1 player started both games, Kane. Totally different back 4s in each game. You cant expect peak Barcelona.
Gareth was lucky. He had England when a lot of the other major powers weren’t at their usual levels. Tuchel isn’t quite so lucky. But Tuchel has 12 months before it gets serious, until then international football for England is essentially pointless (sleepwalk through the qualifiers without being put under any pressure, and a few friendlies that just get in the way of the Premier League). We can rate him next summer when his players care.
Ben, MUFC (Glad Bruno stayed. Love him or hate him, United would be considerably worse without him)
…Obviously there’s lots of the usual harrumphing, wailing, teeth gnashing from England fans after not beating someone 8-0. Kneeing yourself in the face is a new one, but progress takes many forms I suppose.
But can we calm down a bit? This is not a new thing. Just over a year ago we were busy losing to Brazil 0-1 at home in a friendly. Not something that looks terrible on paper, but despite the standard of the constituent players, this is probably the worst version of Brazil ever? And then we rescued an undeserved draw with Belgium a few days later, a late goal from Bellingham who was getting comfy in the undisciplined, midfield-poisoning Gerrard/Rooney role that Kane has only been able to fill partially.
Surprisingly a Mr K Walker had a poor international break back then, and you may recall a Mr K Mainoo being held up as the second coming. Some things change, some things…do not. A couple of years before that, England had a lovely June international break by losing 0-4 to Hungary in the Midlands. A quote from the beeb report on that game says, “the hosts once again lacked the belief and inventiveness to open up their opposition.”
Obviously Southgate had plenty of credit in the bank before those results, while Tuchel barely has any. But we’ve all learned a lot from this international break: nobody in that back 5 should play for England again; the reason we all forgot about Conor Gallagher was not that he moved to Spain; if Ivan Toney is grumpy about not playing, he knows why that’s happening; and Declan Rice needs to be aware that there is a place in the England squad for a midfielder with attacking intentions – it’s called the bench, and we’ve got several thousand other players on it already.
However, something Tuchel needs to learn quick – something we’d all forgotten – is that Southgate’s big achievement was to identify and fix the main problem with the England men’s team: that the whole edifice is just horrible from bottom to top and always has been. For players, fans, and media (although it is chiefly their fault it’s so horrible in the first place). So fostering an environment where everyone is not full of terror and hate is job number one. I am not confident we have employed the best manager for that job.
But most of all, the main thing we should have learned – and obviously haven’t – is that Senegal are *really* good. If that performance had come from a European team, the dull people employed by The Athletic would be pouring overlong, awful prose into the world for the next 8 months about how akchooly, we knew about them being brilliant ages ago, and their earlier albums were miles better, but well done you for catching up.
Neil Raines
READ: England World Cup ladder makes us almost cry as Henderson too high for comfort
England might not qualify for World Cup
Of course all this panic from certain sections of the English media that we won’t qualify for the World Cup is hysterical nonsense but you know what? There is at least a doubt about whether England will finish top of their group and qualify automatically. Think about it.
We have to go Serbia and if we play there like we played against Andorra and in that horrible friendly against Senegal we could well likely get turned over and that could likely see us finishing second and having to go through the play-offs to make the World Cup. I mean that might not happen but given our current poor form it very well might.
Dan, London
READ: World Cup 2026 qualification: Brazil and Ecuador make it 13 confirmed
Missing Gareth
So, here we are. Less than 24 hours after Senegal dismantled us on our own turf and I find myself in the unlikeliest of places: missing Gareth Southgate.
Because say what you like about waistcoats, conservative tactics, or his undying loyalty to certain players — but England under Southgate had an identity. It may not have thrilled every time, but it worked. And after watching the current mess, I’m starting to think we were all a bit too quick to push him out the door.
Let’s talk facts. Southgate’s England reached a World Cup semi-final, a European Championship final, and another World Cup quarter-final — the best run we’ve had since the 1966-1990 golden stretch. That’s 3 deep tournament runs in a row. Compare that to the so-called “golden generation,” who with all their Galáctico-level club success, crashed out in quarters or earlier, usually on penalties and always in disarray.
And yes, his football could be cagey. But it was organised. It had purpose. There was a clear structure — a low block when needed, quick transitions, and most importantly: the players knew their roles. You could argue that it was “too pragmatic,” but it got the job done far more often than not.
Now let’s look at Tuchel. Two friendlies, two defeats. Six goals conceded. Zero clarity. The midfield is a shapeless void. The defence looks like it’s never trained together. And this obsession with Trent as an inverted midfielder — why reinvent the wheel when we’re already leaking goals?
(Two defeats? That’s not happened – Ed)
What’s more telling is the vibe. Under Southgate, the players looked like they wanted to play for England. The camp felt unified, the spirit was high. Now? It feels like the international break is an inconvenience — like Tuchel’s system is something they just don’t buy into.
People used to criticise Southgate for being too loyal to “his favourites” — but at least he had a settled XI. Look at France, Brazil, even Argentina — they win because the team knows itself. Right now, England are being chopped and changed like a club side in pre-season.
And while it’s “only friendlies,” momentum matters. Southgate understood that. Remember the run-up to Euro 2020? We weren’t blowing teams away, but we were solid. Confident. Drilled. Right now, this feels like 2010 or 2016 all over again — big names, no system, and an early exit waiting to happen.
So yes, maybe it’s time to admit it: Gareth wasn’t perfect. But he was stable. He was clear. He gave us belief, consistency, and yes — actual tournament results. Be careful what you wish for, England fans. Because on current form, we might just be wishing for Southgate back by July.
Yours (begrudgingly missing the waistcoat),
Sandeep, London
Ange for England
If I could extend a few thoughts on this ‘never-ending story’. I’ve heard all sorts of comments..”disinterested players”;” a lack of heart;” “burnout”, “can’t relate to Tuchel”…etc etc…It’s nothing to do with the overall talent at the coach’s disposal …in fact we’re overloaded with talent in some positions…but there’s a lack of leadership in the team…probably too many cooks, as it were…, players out of form and one or two e.g Dan Burn and Walker who look very exposed when up against pace and quality.
It may seem harsh, but in all walks of commercial life there are folks who are the right fit for their role and those who will never have the ingredients in a) how to relate to their employees and b) display the necessary know how in earning their employees respect.
Tuchel obviously has the experience and technical skills but I’m doubting that he fully relates to many of these players. They are from different worlds and the fundamental joys of playing football are being stifled. Uncomplicate them Thomas or let a man who certainly has commanded respect , who is smart, outward thinking and a winner take over.
The last England coach who for me always eschewed those characteristics was Terry Venables. In today’s world one man who I think would fit that bill as a national team coach,and for whom the players would give everything is…Ange Postecoglou. The success he had with the Aussie Socceroos..a team of no names but outstandingly strong and focussed mentally..was a compliment to his management style.
We can’t do worse…can we?
Rob Poll
…If the FA appointed Ange now, the World Cup would be at the beginning of his second season… get it done!
Owen (Clutching at straws), Sydney
The last on the ‘truth hurts’ nonsense
William writes unironically, in an email punctuated with “Truth Hurts”, that, “It’s hard to understand how these guys [including those of African descent] can truly have the same feelings about playing for England compared with a player whose family go back thousands of years.”
Let’s humour William and entertain that ridiculous premise for a moment, would he care to offer an explanation as to why those players might feel differently than he about what it means to play from England? That was conspicuous by its absence from William’s email. Or does the truth of the, actually disturbingly recent, history of his beloved England hurt?
NA, London
…”Truth hurts” says William. Well let’s find out.
Your main point seems to be that: “some supporters find it difficult to connect or find the team reflects their idea of England.” And “struggle to feel the team truly represents England “. Also that if the players had “deep English roots” these fans would have more “pride in the shirt.”
Unfortunately, some people are xenophobic and the truth is that this is a massive problem for the perception of England supporters around the world. I’m not proud of that.
Some fans don’t know their history and their idea of England is a fantasy. It stems from their ideology rather than external reality.
Being English has always been about being a blend of different cultures, people and ideas – to which many attribute the remarkable success of this small country. I’ve got no problem feeling proud of that. The truth is that a team made from mixed lineage people perfectly represents England.
I want to look at some of that history using your wonderful quotes.
“..blood, sweat and tears”.
Nice that you quote Churchill – who was of course half American. No surprise really because the truth is that England’s impressive history is in no small part due to English people with non English descent. It really is an absurdly long list of inventers, writers, artists, explorers etc.
These people are deep in the culture and roots of the country. For example: St George (Turkish), King Arthur (Welsh), I.K.Brunel (half french) and the duke of Wellington (Irish). In fact most of his ‘English’ soldiers were Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Indian. Not to mention Boris Johnson and the King among many others.
This one’s great:
“.. a player whose family go back thousands of years. A true Englishman…”
The truth is, England is about 1,100 years old. Also, just in basic practical terms, who can trace their heritage back that far? Or even back hundreds of years? The best you can do is posh folks who come from the Normans, and they’re French/Danish.
The England team would be all public school boys which kind of limits your talent pool?
If we just exclude Irish descent that’s Geoff Hurst, Kane, Rooney, Scholes and Gascoigne. So no World Cup win or England’s two top scorers.
You may not care – ancestral purity may be more important than achievement – but it nicely illustrates the central flaw in such small minded ideas.
The success of humans, the innovation and technology, and the wealth that follows come from sharing and cooperation; mixing the best from different places to make a better whole. The historical melting pots that brought together different cultures and ideas were the great centres of invention and growth.
This benevolent mixing of people is now, and always has been, what gives Englishness it’s unique qualities and a lot of it’s success.
Saxon, Danish, Norse, French, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Indian, West Indian, African or Polish, we accept and take ideas and mix cultures and we use it to our advantage. This is being English and it’s something to be proud of.
What the heck, let’s look at a thousands of years old ‘English’ heritage. We’ll start with the Bell Beaker people (2500bce) who built Stonehenge. They were from Anatolia and displaced 90% of the population becoming the overwhelming culture at that time. Then came the Celts who fled into and then out of ‘England’ to get away from the Romans, which takes us into single figure thousands of years.
So, if you want to be a true English man (I don’t know if English women are insulted or relieved at this point) you have to be of ancient Italian or Turkish descent?
” It challenges traditional ideas of national identity.”
Maybe racist ideas of national identity.
The truth is the actual identity of the majority of this country is one of decency and a desire to get on. A cosmopolitan outlook.
The truth is we’ve historically been a place people come to escape persecution: Huguenots, Dutch, Germans, Russian Jews for example.
England were the first to restrict the power of kings and one of the first to free the serfs. We fight for freedom and human rights. We stand – sometimes alone – against tyrants.
Of course, not really alone because there were soldiers from the rest of Britain, India, Canada, NZ, France, Poland, Australia and Africa. This is our identity.
Look, it was a dismal performance which we’ve seen a lot in the last 40 to 50 years. It’s a frustrating team to support and people love to play the blame game.
However, if your first port of call is someone’s heritage or skin colour then the truth is that maybe you could open your mind and try and see – it’s not their lack of deep Englishness; it’s your lack of understanding of what being English really means.
See, the truth doesn’t hurt at all.
Big love…wherever you come from.
Hartley MCFC Somerset (the name William has German/French ancestry, out of interest.)
…Oh William. Here was me thinking how was F365 going to get its clicks for the off-season. I forgot about the England games and the potential for xenophobic nonsense. And I am generous with saying xenophobic after your particular example.
But let’s be grown up and academic about it, and let’s explore the merits of the premise. Will a pure blood Englishman perform better as a sportsman than an English man who is not a pure blood. Let’s call them mudbloods.
First my conflicts. I am mudblood English with family ties to Wales and Scotland.
Let’s take a thought experiment, is say Jacob Rees Mogg as a (probably) pure blood an inherently better footballer for England than mud blood Cole Palmer? No, he is not.
So that disproves that theory.
Maybe we could find another pure blood – Prince William? No he’s German. Boris Johnson? No, Russian and born in America. Farage? German dual national. Maybe we need some form of camp to weed out all of these mudbloods. It does get tricky doesn’t it? A register at the very least. Maybe paint some mark on their houses so that we know. Its been tried before but I quite remember where….
Hold on William, is this your way of saying that you should play for England?
Alex, South London
PS Inglorious Basterds is leaving Netflix UK soon. Not sure why that’s relevant.
…Ethno-nationalist opinions on the genetic basis of true Englishness like William’s are widely held but not by me. As explanatory power for England performances though they are surely rubbish.
France can plausibly take the field with no pure-breed white players; current world champions Argentina are a recently created country from a range of European and other ethnicities, Spain destroyed England with wingers of Ghanaian and Moroccan descent. (And Spain is at least two ethnicities (Basque and Latin) and two nations (Catalonia and Castile) That’s on a team level. Clearly there are football nations that are more mono-ethnic that do well – but counter examples to mono-ethnicity correlating with modern success are so easy to find that I don’t think there’s a case to investigate
On a personal level can William imagine the coaches sitting down with Jude Bellingham and saying “We realise your performances for England lack passion because your mum is Jamaican. Here’s how we can work round that …” It’s just nonsense on stilts from start to finish.
Chris AVFC
