Jude Bellingham has been left out of England’s final squad and his relationship with Thomas Tuchel is in doubt, but Wayne Rooney insists the Real Madrid star needs to be in the team and must remain arrogant
Jude Bellingham has been told to remain arrogant because he is England’s most special player.
This is the view of Wayne Rooney, who believes Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel made a mistake in sacking the Real Madrid superstar from his last team. Former England captain Rooney told Tuchel that Bellingham should be included in next summer’s World Cup squad.
And Rooney believes Bellingham’s impressive performance in last weekend’s Clasico, in which he came out on top against Marcus Rashford’s Barcelona – he was nominated as Madrid’s winner – proved Tuchel was wrong to ignore the midfielder. He told The Wayne Rooney Show: “It was a big reaction to being left out of the England squad. That’s what he can do and that’s why he’s a special player. He has special moments.”
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“You saw it at the Euros and it’s the same again in Madrid. He had his big moments and the biggest game would probably be El Clasico. He made an impact, he got an assist, he scored a goal. “That’s the mindset when you’re left behind – do you sit there and sulk or do you go and react?
“Try to prove people wrong and he’s gone and done that. I’ve been hearing the debate in recent weeks about whether he should be in England’s World Cup squad…
“He has to be in the England squad. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Everyone relies on Harry Kane, but when you need something done he (Bellingham) is the one who can go and do it.”
“You need players with that kind of attitude. I don’t mean attitude in a bad way, I mean attitude where you can walk on the pitch and look at your opponent and say, ‘You know what, I’m better than you.’
“You need that. It’s not a bad thing to have that and I think Jude Belligum has that. We’ve seen it since he was very young and he’s still very young, but you need a match winner, you need someone who has moments, special moments. And he will definitely provide that.”
Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube and iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds. Episodes drop every Friday and Monday morning.
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