Simon Jordan and Jim White did not see eye-to-eye regarding how Jude Bellingham’s latest post-match interview was conducted.
The midfielder spoke to ITV’s Gabriel Clarke after England’s 2-1 win over Norway on Saturday to book a spot in the World Cup semi-finals against Argentina.
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Yet despite scoring both goals for the Three Lions, which has now catapulted him into the tournament’s Golden Boot race, it was how Bellingham responded to a question regarding England manager Thomas Tuchel’s frustrations about the display that has stolen the headlines.
Also speaking to Clarke, Tuchel admitted he was ‘not happy’ with how his side performed against Norway, but strongly pushed back on suggestions there was a link between the squad’s mentality and their on-field showings.
When it was put to Bellingham that Tuchel was not a fan of the performance, the midfielder replied to Clarke: “Yeah, well, whatever.”
The Real Madrid star added: “All the players have put in a tough shift. So my thoughts and appreciation go out to the players out there who put in a great shift again.
“Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Odegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against. So, I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment.
“You’re not going to win every game, popping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we’ve done that again tonight.”
Discussing the respective interviews, Jordan believed Clarke deserved credit for the way he drew out Tuchel’s answer, even if the England boss was ‘bursting at the seams to say it.’
Jordan: Bellingham wasn’t presented ‘a rounded picture’ of Tuchel’s comments
Jordan also felt the Tuchel interview was exactly what fans wanted to hear, given other managers can often frustrate with vanilla post-match responses.
“But now, people are pushing back and saying, ‘Why couldn’t you have taken that balanced interview and presented it to Jude Bellingham?” Jordan said on Monday’s edition of White and Jordan.
“We can praise Gabriel for the interview he did with Thomas Tuchel, and by the essence of balance, we can criticise Gabriel Clarke for not presenting a rounded picture to Jude Bellingham and getting a response from Jude Bellingham which I think he shouldn’t have given him, by the way.
“So, I think Gabriel could have done a better job and made it more balanced.”
White sided with Clarke on the matter and replied: “It’s fashionable to hate on the media, isn’t it?
White: ITV’s Clarke did his job ‘and more’ with post-match interviews
“It’s something you (Jordan) do regularly, even though you’re in it.”
White added: “I just think this. Did Gabriel Clarke do his job? Yes, that and more.
“He had to stand there when Tuchel pushed right back on him about mentality, and Tuchel was right to do that. I love all that.”
Jordan reiterated that few, if any, had issues with the way Tuchel responded to Clarke’s line of questioning.
But the former Crystal Palace owner’s main gripe was ‘the fact there wasn’t a balanced argument put to Bellingham.’
“And now the Bellingham response is being elevated,” Jordan continued.
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But White pushed back, claiming Jordan would be assuming he’d have received an entirely different response from Bellingham had been presented with the full context of Tuchel’s answers.
“Then there would be no argument from me then,” Jordan replied.
“I wouldn’t be making this point, I would be saying, ‘Well, hang on a second, he was given the balance and he’s now chosen to be disrespectful.’
“I personally don’t think Jude should be saying what he said. I think there should be more respect.”
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