Throughout his coaching career at Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel has shown that he is not afraid to offend or have conflicts with superiors. This is the reason why his time in charge of his teams is often short.
Tuchel's tendence to not avoid controversy has once again been exposed through the decision to remove England star Jude Bellingham from the squad for this month's matches against Wales and Latvia.
However, Tuchel has denied that he has problems with Bellingham and clearly wants to put pressure, even directly targeting the best player in the team. Why is that? Carefully reading the "Three Lions" articles, there are signs of problems in the behavior of the Real Madrid star towards some teammates.
Bellingham is a perfectionist, with his body language sometimes making others feel like he is disregarding his less talented teammates. Are these accusations fair? Or is Bellingham just trying to motivate those around him to achieve better results for the team? Perhaps this player himself, up to this point, is not fully aware of the atmosphere surrounding him.
However, Bellingham once admitted that he maintained his "manly image" to hide his personal weaknesses. This shows that he is listening and understanding the current psychology.
"You'll recognize him when he's away. He is a great player, a significant presence" - Anthony Gordon said about his teammate in the England team.
No one denies Bellingham's importance in England's journey towards the World Cup - both in the role of assist and goalscorer. People who know Bellingham well, such as Jordan Henderson, have described him as an "absolutely unusual personality."
However, since his time at Dortmund, there have been stories that some veteran players have been dissatisfied with Bellingham. Because he often speaks out to criticize when things do not go as expected.
It's easy to forget the journey Bellingham has gone through. He became a mainstay of Birmingham City at the age of 16, played 282 club matches and had 44 caps for the "Three Lions". After that, Bellingham gradually rose to the position of a top star. Therefore, it is understandable that someone is sometimes overconfident in the face of unusual success.
However, Tuchel seems to want to send a message that no one is allowed to be complacent. He emphasized that there are still many other No. 10 players, such as Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers or Morgan Gibbs-White. In other words, anyone has to fight for their position and there is no advantage.
Last year, Tuchel shocked the media when he said that his mother sometimes felt Bellingham's behavior on the pitch was "terrifying". He later withdrew his somewhat heavy speech and apologized. However, that statement seems to reflect partly his discomfort with his student's behavior.
It seems that Tuchel wants a "rectified" version of Bellingham - both a great player and a calm and approachable person.
But was it right for him to do so? This is reminiscent of the only coach who helped England win the World Cup, Sir Alf Ramsey. This strategist always makes even his most reliable players worried in 2022.
So what is happening now could be Tuchel's effort to build a squad for the World Cup without internal tensions. This is a factor that has weakened many campaigns of many big teams.
Typically, the French team, which collapsed during the famous crisis in 2010, or Spain before the golden age, when Barcelona and Real Madrid players often appeared distant and had difficulty integrating together.
This was not only a brave decision, but also a correct choice for Tuchel. Bellingham will return determined to prove his point, and as a world-class player with a great personality.
It is all part of growing up and learning. And who knows, one day, Bellingham will realize that the moment Tuchel was left out of the squad was the turning point in his career.
