Tuchel hails England ‘DNA’ with Bellingham as Keane makes decision made between Gordon and Rashford | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel has praised Jude Bellingham for “buying into” a key component of the England “DNA” after his display for the Three Lions against Costa Rica on Wednesday.

Bellingham started behind Harry Kane and in front of starting midfield duo Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice for the first time ahead of Morgan Rogers – his rival for the No.10 position – and Tuchel was particularly impressed by his work-rate off the ball.

“We trained a lot of offensive solutions, but we made it very clear that the DNA of us is also off the ball,” Tuchel said. “The work rate gives us a good feeling and intensity, and we can impose ourselves on the opponent, and the movement is up front and not running backwards.

“That made us strong in qualification football. I wanted to see Jude in the combination today for the first time with Harry, Elliot and Declan at the centre of the game. I know what Morgan gives us there, I just saw it so many times. It was the first time for Jude, and he buys into these ideas. He has to and he loves to do it, and that’s part of our game.”

Another spot in the starting XI thought to be up for debate is the left wing, and after a standout showing from Anthony Gordon, in the 3-0 win, Manchester United legend Roy Keane believes the £70m Barcelona man will now “get the nod” to start vs Croatia next Wednesday.

“I think Thomas Tuchel will be pleased. There was more intensity tonight in terms of the opposition. A good urgency from England that I enjoyed,” Keane said on ITV.

“You want players to give you a headache. Anthony Gordon will be on a high with his dream move to Barcelona. Gordon, you would think, would get the nod [over Rashford].

“A dream scenario for the manager. The players driving each other on.”

‘I demanded that’

Tuchel wanted to see an uptick in intensity from his players after a sluggish display against New Zealand and was delighted with what he saw.

“I wished for that, I demanded that; I said before the match we want to push it to the next level, from intensity, commitment, cohesion, and we did that,” the head coach said. “We could see the impact of the Arsenal players coming into camp and we could see the impact of training.

“We see the adaptation to the heat and we see things clicking, but we demanded it today from the players to take the next step and they did. The result takes care of itself, but we did it on a high level.

“I think we set the tone today in the meeting and the players were ready to follow, to have the next step in intensity and the way we play, to push ourselves and get a good feeling out of it. The energy in the stadium was amazing. I thought: ‘OK, if we can really play like this and grow into the tournament and have this kind of cohesion and brotherhood and team spirit that we showed today, then we will have an amazing connection with the fans.’”