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For Bellingham to wants to earn his place back into England’s strongest squad, the smart move to eliminate the unnecessary reactions. His response when he saw that his number was being shown following a night of mixed performance in the match against Albania was not good enough.

"I don’t want to overstate it but I hold to my words 'behaviour is key' and respect towards the players who substitute on," commented the coach. "Choices are taken and you have to accept it being a professional."

There is a lesson for Bellingham. There was no call for a strop. Kane had just put the Three Lions two goals ahead in an inconsequential fixture, the game had six minutes to go and he, who had not played particularly well, received a caution for a foul on the Albanian striker. It was not a debatable decision. In fact it would have been unwise for the head coach to leave Bellingham on considering it was possible the midfielder would make himself ineligible of the opening game of the competition by receiving a second caution.

Drawing Attention to Himself

But Bellingham made himself the center of attention. There was no disguising the 22-year-old’s frustration when he clocked that he was going to make way for another player. He flung his arms in the air and while he accepted the coach's hand while heading to the touchline it was obvious that the manager was displeased.

Here lies the test facing Bellingham. He congratulated his teammate for sending in the ball for Harry Kane to head in the team's second, but everything else was self-defeating. There was no chance complaining was going to reverse the substitution. The German has talked so much about respecting team hierarchies and the importance of behaving correctly.

Under Scrutiny

The midfielder, omitted from last month’s squad, has been under scrutiny since coming back to the team recently. In effect he was being assessed and he hasn't helped his case by reacting to being taken off as the side completed a perfect qualifying campaign by seeing off a tough opposition from Albania.

The Coach's Plan

It means it's unclear on whether England function at their best including Bellingham. The performance was inconclusive. There was experimentation from the manager in the beginning. He has provided England a clear system lately, using a defensive midfielder, a No 8, an attacking midfielder and specialist wingers, but the approach changed in this match. Jarell Quansah was handed his international debut, Adam Wharton started for the first time internationally and the use of the defender as a makeshift midfielder created a passing resemblance to Manchester City’s historic treble-winning side.

Inconsistent Display

His performance was inconsistent. He made a chance for his teammate during the second half but at times seemed trying too hard. There were a lot of hurried and errant passes. A pointless clash with an Albania midfielder in the early stages. The team looked disjointed during most of the second period. One Albania chance followed Bellingham squandered possession. The yellow card was shown after he lost the ball from Broja and fouled the former Chelsea striker.

Squad Strength Shows

In the end England’s depth was decisive. Tuchel threw on the Manchester City player, who looked better suited to the position in which Bellingham operated in the opening period, and the Arsenal winger. Later Saka provided a corner kick for Harry Kane to break the deadlock. This served as a reminder that set pieces will play a key role next summer.

Relationship Not Broken

Still, though, all talk was about Bellingham. The quality of Rashford's cross for Kane's goal was somewhat overlooked due to the fuss of the player change. When the match concluded, the focus was on Bellingham. Tuchel came over behind him and pushed the Real Madrid midfielder to acknowledge the English fans. The bond between them remains intact. Tuchel is not willing to discard the player just yet. But if the coach is prepared to give him the central position is still uncertain.