ITVโs Clarkeโs post-match interviews epitomise awful UK media
ITV sports hack Gabriel Clarke has rightly been lambasted for his appalling interviews after England beat Norway to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
The match followed the pattern of recent England performances: a frustrating, lacklustre performance rescued by moments of brilliance from, mostly, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. England manager Thomas Tuchel, while happy to get through and praising Bellinghamโs performance his teamโs mentality, was correctly dissatisfied with the latest repeat. Tuchel felt that England โmade life hard for [ourselves]โ.
ITV Clarkeโs wind-up
And he had no patience for Clarkeโs wind-up:
Horrendous interview from Gabriel Clarke post Norway
vs England
game
I would have let it slide if it was just Thomas Tuchel but him trying to bait Jude Bellingham after was disgraceful. Let the man enjoy the moment, he deserves it@gabrielclarke05 pic.twitter.com/VclXk4PEEH
โ RGF (@rgfray1) July 12, 2026
Clarke then moved on to try to bait Bellingham, Englandโs star player on the night, appearing to want to drive a wedge between player and manager:
Gabriel Clarke should be removed from his football duties for this. absolutely insane to lie and stir animosity between the best player and the manager, all because the latter rightfully called your stupid question out https://t.co/F2GciahP64
โ
Fans werenโt slow to pick up on the ploy:
Gabriel Clarke has just epitomised the English media in 2 short interviews there. Absolutely abysmal questioning, going out his way to try and stir something up between tuchel and Bellingham proper WEIRD. #NORENG #ThreeLions
โ Matty H (@OpTic_MH) July 12, 2026
And many called Clarke a โtroublemakerโ all too typical of UK โmainstreamโ media, who should be removed because of it:
Gabriel Clarke trying to get a reaction from the incredible Jude Bellingham.
The UK public are starting to hate the UK Media.
And with good reason.
The pitch interviews are a waste of time and give opportunities for troublemakers like Clarke to sow doubt between players andโฆ
โ Pete Sanford (@PeteSanford) July 12, 2026
โGet ridโ
I struggle to understand how anybody can watch a Gabriel Clarke interview and believe he is a good reporter.
It is time to go. And long overdue at that.pic.twitter.com/5mFxLgq0Eu
โ JP (@JP_FFC_) July 12, 2026
Some asked readers to take steps toward achieving it by complaining to the broadcaster:
How do we log a complaint about Gabriel Clarke and ITV?
โ SG. (@S0uthernGe0rdie) July 12, 2026
The theme of โstirring divisionโ came up repeatedly:
Gabriel Clarke is an absolute disgrace, trying to stir up division between Tuchel and Jude. You know itโll be all over the papers too. The media are absolute rats when they behave like that. They donโt want England to succeed
โ ToweringZigic (@ToweringZigic) July 12, 2026
S***-stirrer
Some thought Clarke felt aggrieved by Tuchelโs dismissiveness of his nonsense and was trying to get payback:
Gabriel Clarke (the interviewer) can do one. He was so butthurt by the Tuchel interview that he took it upon himself to take the wind out of Bellinghamโs sails by mentioning how disappointed Tuchel was. Awful interviewing. Really sad to watch.
โ Alexandra Ayears (@AlexandraLawes) July 12, 2026
Some pointed out how Clarke could easily have relayed positives from the Tuchel interview to Bellingham but chose to emphasise the negative:
Gabriel Clarke should be removed from his football duties for this. absolutely insane to lie and stir animosity between the best player and the manager, all because the latter rightfully called your stupid question out https://t.co/F2GciahP64
โ
I implore you guys to watch this. Gabriel Clarke interviewed Tuchel before Bellingham & both occasions, he was rather provocative.
If he relays back to Jude that their mentality/commitment was praised, you wouldnโt see this reaction
Shocking interview pic.twitter.com/saQO1I96Zl https://t.co/BaHNm5IsHH
โ C (@ctt_carys) July 12, 2026
Others agreed and essentially believed Clarke was doing it for clicks:
It could all have been handled so much better by Gabriel Clarke and instead, thereโs now a storm in a teacup for absolutely no reason, going into one of the biggest games in English footballโs living memory. https://t.co/KdPL1MS6de pic.twitter.com/gUZz6OThXJ
โ HLTCO (@HLTCO) July 12, 2026
Bang on. Gabriel Clarke felt slighted/disrespected so decided to get his own back on Tuchel by stirring the pot with Bellingham.
Manufacturing a rift in the England team just before the semi-final because your ego got hurt is so selfish, petty and short-sighted. https://t.co/TI8xodjFXj
โ Eddie Burfi (@EddieBurfi) July 12, 2026
And Clarke was accused of tarnishing one of English footballโs greatest moments:
Only in England would our media seek to drive a wedge between the players and the manager in the run up to a SEMI FINAL. Gabriel Clarke should be ashamed of himself. https://t.co/5K8Y5ZP22R
โ Sam Barrick (@SJ_Barrick) July 12, 2026
Tuchel, by contrast, was praised for his directness and not trying to gloss over the improvements needed:
I implore you guys to watch this. Gabriel Clarke interviewed Tuchel before Bellingham & both occasions, he was rather provocative.
If he relays back to Jude that their mentality/commitment was praised, you wouldnโt see this reaction
Shocking interview pic.twitter.com/saQO1I96Zl https://t.co/BaHNm5IsHH
โ C (@ctt_carys) July 12, 2026
Love seeing Tuchel slaughter the interviewer there and being brutal of the performance. Heโs the reason he was hired
โ Neil Robertson OAM (@nr147) July 11, 2026
As this commenter suggests, if the FA wants to get through the semi-final โ let alone win the World Cup โ it should keep Clarke well away from its squad and management:
If the FA have anything about them the donโt let Gabriel Clarke near the team again. Clear what he was trying to do immediately with Tuchel. https://t.co/fjppvwgqnM
โ Oliver (@OliverBerisford) July 12, 2026
But Clarke did serve one useful purpose: shining a spotlight on the general awfulness of UK โMSMโ. If only UK people would wake up as a whole to that in politics as well, we might not be living in an authoritarian dystopia.
Featured image via Twitter
By Skwawkbox