England manager Thomas Tuchel did not disagree with Jude Bellingham's opinion that the team put in a great shift in Saturday's win over Norway to reach the World Cup semi-finals, but he firmly believes they can and must improve.
Bellingham again came to England's rescue, scoring both goals in the 2-1 victory after Norway had gone ahead, and he was told straight after the game that Tuchel was unhappy with the performance of his side.
"Oh well, whatever... It's difficult out there," man-of-the-match Bellingham said. "It's a tough shift. All the players put in a very tough shift. So my thoughts and appreciation go to the players who were out there who put in a great shift yet again."
The first question Tuchel faced in his press conference was whether he agreed with Bellingham's words.
"Absolutely, no one disputes that," Tuchel said. "I'm impressed with the shift that they put in, the effort, team spirit, the belief, and to overcome adversity and to dig in and find ways to win is on the absolutely highest level. They cannot get enough praise for that.
"But I'm also a football coach, and I think we can play better. In general, I think it was not a high-level game," the German added. "I think we had better games in general. The analysing head of me and the football coach in me still thinks that we can and have to play better football."
Bellingham and captain Harry Kane have dragged England into the last four, scoring 12 of their 13 goals in the tournament, and while Tuchel would like to see other players step up, he will not be complaining if those two keep delivering.
"We need to get better in attacking to also bring other players into position," Tuchel said.
"But, of course, they are decisive players. They love the responsibility. They have the quality. They show up in decisive moments, so there's nothing wrong with it.
"We don't need to be sorry for that, that these two guys play for us and decide the matches for us. It's impressive. They're both top players, who found a way to play so efficiently with each other."
Tuchel was again asked about why he appeared so unhappy after such an important win.
"No, not at all with the result and not with the team," he said.
"Maybe I need to be more specific. There's no doubt I'm proud and I'm happy. And I feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes to take the next step. They just refuse to lose. They overcome obstacles and adversity.
"We want to bring out the best in us because the top performance helps you win games. It is just like this, and so the head of mine is not fully satisfied and is not 100% happy with the way we played, and I stand by it."
England will face Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday.
