Bellingham AXED in 'baffling' Tuchel call and Southgate makes shock Man Utd demands

Jude Bellingham has been both AXED and DROPPED by England after Thomas Tuchel REFUSED an obvious request. Gareth Southgate has some shock Man Utd demands.

Just have a little patience

As one of precious few individuals to manage the seemingly impossible feat of winning back-to-back games as a Premier League coach, Gareth Southgate is inevitably front and centre of any conversation surrounding Manchester United and Ruben Amorim.

He really could be the next Manchester United manager. Probably not. But he could. And that is enough.

The claim, however, is that he is hardly jumping at the chance. Southgate has his reservations, perhaps because it would be difficult to persuade Sir Jim Ratcliffe to spend £50m on Kieran Trippier.

But someone in the Southgate camp has clearly been speaking to certain voices in the media, because…

‘Southgate ‘lays out two demands’ to even consider Man Utd talks as pressure builds on Red Devils boss Amorim’ – Daily Mirror website.

‘Gareth Southgate ‘insists on two Man Utd promises’ to replace Ruben Amorim if he’s sacked’ – Daily Star website.

So what precisely is Southgate asking for? Only green M&Ms in his office? His initials emblazoned on a waistcoat? The suspense is killing us.

‘Gareth Southgate would demand time and patience from Manchester United if he was to succeed Ruben Amorim.’

Oh for fu…

Come back to us when Gareth Southgate demands impatience and to be judged after a couple of games. Then you’ve got an actual story.

Back, sack and crack

It is a relief that we still get to hear from Samuel Luckhurst since his defection to The Sun. Mediawatch was worried we would no longer be treated to nuggets of crucial insider information like this:

‘More relevantly, the status quo from the United hierarchy has not changed. Amorim retains the backing of the United board and will do so until he is sacked.’

Next week: Bruno Fernandes will remain captain until he is not.

You can ring my Bell

England squad announcement day offers brief respite from what has become an intensely competitive Premier League manager sack race.

And it is absolutely, undeniably noteworthy that Jude Bellingham is not part of Thomas Tuchel’s selection.

But a) he has not been ‘DROPPED’, and b) it is only really ‘a major shock’ if you have been paying no attention or are a tabloid journalist. In which case, Mediawatch offers its sincere condolences.

John Cross writes that Bellingham ‘has been sensationally left out’ of the squad and Thomas Tuchel ‘has effectively admitted’ he was ‘DROPPED’.

Well he wasn’t part of the last England squad due to injury, only made his return for Real Madrid after more than two months out following surgery on September 20, and has played precisely 100 minutes of football in his four appearances since.

As Tuchel pointed out in a press conference, while Bellingham “wanted to be called up” he ultimately “lacked rhythm”.

But does it really need to be explained why a player who has started one game for club and country in the last 86 days not being picked to potentially face Wales in a friendly or Latvia in a World Cup qualifier isn’t a particularly ‘massive surprise’?

The ‘effective admittance’ from Tuchel was his quote asking the proverbial question: “Why not bring the same group in because they set the standards?” And, of course, not mentioning Bellingham or indeed any player specifically by name in his helpful clarification as to why Bellingham has been ‘DROPPED’.

‘It also comes just two days after Bellingham was named as the England fans’ Player of the Year so this must be seen as a major shock,’ Cross adds, as if an award for performances last season bears any relevance whatsoever to a decision made based entirely on circumstances in October 2025.

Bellingham not being picked is notable and interesting. But it is also completely explicable and understandable if given more than a moment’s thought.

DROPPED the ball

Bellingham had been both ‘AXED’ and ‘DROPPED’ according to the MailOnline, who say ‘Tuchel’s cryptic comments hint it’s INTENTIONAL’, as if he might have accidentally left him off the list initially.

Tuchel also ‘REFUSED Jude Bellingham’s request,’ which is one way of interpreting a elite-level professional footballer predictably wanting to play football all the time and a manager making decisions based on more things than that one-eyed desire.

The Mail are no doubt thrilled by Bellingham’s omission after laying into him throughout the last international break.

And Craig Hope picks up where he left off with a lengthy opinion piece again calling out Bellingham’s ‘leading man syndrome’, ‘intimidatory manner’ and ‘ego’.

‘Tuchel clearly feels a change of mindset is needed if they are to prosper together,’ he writes. Either that or Bellingham’s four appearances since returning from a quite significant surgery in the summer have totalled one minute, 19 minutes, 70 minutes and ten minutes respectively, and England have more than enough good players to not feel the need to take unnecessary risks over fitness and, as Tuchel said, “rhythm”.

Our only Hope

This line from Hope brings up a point worth reiterating far and wide considering some of the coverage Mediawatch has seen of the England squad announcement:

‘[Tuchel] needs to know if [Bellingham] has listened. He needs to know the reaction after he branded the 22-year-old’s on-field demeanour ‘repulsive’ in June.’

A couple of points.

Tuchel didn’t ‘brand’ Bellingham’s ‘on-field demeanour ‘repulsive”. He said sometimes people on the outside “cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see and the smile. If he smiles, he wins everyone but sometimes you see the rage, the hunger and the fire and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive. For example, for my mother when she sits in front of the TV.”

And more importantly, Tuchel also apologised unreservedly for using that word “unintentionally”, adding: “I am experienced enough and should’ve known better, I should’ve done better. I thought I had a little more credit with you guys (the media) that I do all this in my second language.”

Obviously not. We would apologise but it seems like they are completely ignored by the following month.

Hey, Jude

Click here to read article