Things are going swimmingly for Thomas Tuchel's England, but the German manager has certainly tried to stoke a few fires during the November international break.
In truth, Tuchel has fallen into a few traps laid out by members of the English media, who are desperate to ensure the "arrogant" Jude Bellingham is the fall guy after a crushing quarterfinal exit to Argentina in North America next summer.
Ian Wright has responded to some of the criticism that Jude Bellingham has been receiving from the English media 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/imdO9meTqU
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 17, 2025
The Bellingham debate will rage right up until Matchday 1 of the group stage at the 2026 World Cup. The discourse will be thrilling, no doubt, with the Daily Mail's Craig Hope already lining up his next hit piece.
Tuchel was clearly in a reprimanding mood this month, as he also spoke out about Djed Spence's snubbing of Thomas Frank at the start of November, which sparked an online meltdown among the fanbase after a woeful defeat to Chelsea.
Frank cleared it all up soon after, with no harm seemingly having been done, but the situation has been brought back into the spotlight by Tuchel.
Why Thomas Tuchel "didn't like" Djed Spence's Thomas Frank snub
“I didn’t like it,” Tuchel said, ahead of Sunday's 2-0 victory over Albania in Tirana. “Because the players know they are not only national players when they are ten days in camp. They are always national players, and the standard of behaviour is always important.”
It's a case of public responsibility for the England manager, who was reminding Spence of the example he must set while a member of his Three Lions squad.
Otherwise, there isn't too much to read into it. Spence, who made his England debut in September, was still picked by Tuchel for their November outings, although he didn't see the field in either game. He'll be desperate to be a part of the squad that travels to North America next summer, with regular starts at club level key to Spence's hopes.
The versatile full-back has risen from the periphery over the past 12 months into a reliable operator down both flanks. He's primarily been stationed down the left since his emergence, and it'll be interesting to see how much playing time he receives after the break, with Destiny Udogie fully fit again.
Instead of earning starts at left-back and contributing to Spurs' attacking imbalance, I'd prefer to see Spence used more often as a Pedro Porro reliever. The Spaniard has racked up a lot of minutes in 2025, with respite required as the schedule continues to condense at the end of 2025.