Telegraph writer: There is no collective media action against Bellingham and he gets top marks

The England team ended their World Cup qualifying campaign with ease and satisfaction, and Bellingham has recently become the focus of media attention. Premier League legend Ian Wright even said that the media is actively provoking disputes. "Daily Telegraph" writer Matt Law wrote an article talking about Bellingham.

I have been covering English football for 15 years, but when I was sitting on the sofa, watching TV and scrolling through my phone, it was hard to predict that Bellingham would cause such a big disturbance.

Due to taking a week's annual leave, I did not go to cover the England team's final game of the World Cup preliminaries. Like most people, I was leisurely watching the World Cup qualifiers from my living room while scrolling through the uninspiring nonsense on social media.

The TV broadcast did not capture any of the controversial footage of Bellingham, and as far as I know, he celebrated the team's goal and wished Morgan Rogers good luck as he left the field. So when I found out Monday morning that Bellingham was a hot topic in the media, I was stunned.

This once again reminds us that watching the game live is a completely different experience than watching the game live, because the camera obviously did not capture the scene of Bellingham not being happy when he was substituted. If I were there, I would definitely ask Tuchel what he thought about it. Surprisingly, Tuchel seemed to further inflame the issue with some strong words and didn't look like he had any idea what was going on.

We can assume the opposite situation. If Bellingham or any other player leaves the field with a smile when he is replaced, what will the outside world say? After all, no player wants to stay on the court. Reporting Tuchel’s remarks does not constitute a media witch hunt or deliberately create a certain narrative environment. Therefore, Ian Wright's criticism of the media seems unfair.

Wright is certainly entitled to his opinion, and he is capable of being very professional about it, but it can be off-putting when commentators use "they" to refer to the media community as a whole rather than specifying whom they object to.

If Wright or other well-known commentators have objections to my reporting in the future, I would rather they point it out directly instead of using words like "they" or "the media." We are all capable and mature enough to defend ourselves.

The public, like the media, has its own views on things. It seems that one or two strong opinions about Bellingham have been mistaken for the position of all media outlets, which is unfair. The Telegraph's coverage of the alleged Bellingham controversy focused largely on Tuchel's comments and highlighted the need to channel the player's passion. Moreover, Bellingham got the highest score after the game.

There is no collective action against Bellingham.

On Tuesday morning, only one newspaper had Bellingham on the front page. This is their right and decision and there is no evidence of collective action against Bellingham.

I personally think that if Tuchel abandons Bellingham in next summer's World Cup, it will be a completely crazy act. Of course, coaches and players may not care what I think. Bellingham has proven that he can help England win in crucial moments, and only those with full confidence and talent can step up in this way.

Of course, as a written medium, Bellingham's reluctance to communicate with us is really frustrating, since he interacts quite actively with television media. I really hope to have a long chat with him. This may also upset some team-mates as interacting with the media is part of the England international's responsibilities, but Bellingham appears to be exempt from this restriction. However, who would take it seriously? I won't change my professional opinion about him just because of this little thing.

Like other reporters, I tried to connect with people close to Bellingham, but with little success. I'm 46 and I'm okay with being turned away, it's not a big deal.

My only real contact with Bellingham was during the World Cup in Qatar, when he and a member of the communications team came to the England media tent and stopped by the darts board. I challenged him to a game of darts, with him representing Birmingham and me representing Villa, and Villa won the Second City Derby (the two teams were bitter rivals).

After being named Man of the Match, Bellingham had to attend a press conference. I quickly shouted "Come on Villa" to him at the end of the press conference and he seemed to accept it readily. He probably thought I was a weirdo, but he didn't show any sign of not liking the good-natured joke.

When England return to action in March next year, I will also be back in the press box, and there is no doubt that my perspective will be different from when I am lying on the sofa watching the live broadcast. Bellingham will almost certainly be in the spotlight again. Anyway, my biggest personal dissatisfaction with him is that he supports Birmingham.