England have Jude Bellingham to thank for their World Cup victory over Panama and manager Thomas Tuchel knows the Three Lions will need the Real Madrid superstar to progress.
England manager Thomas Tuchel and midfielder Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham is England’s Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Vinicius Junior.
Great players take a team to another level. That’s exactly what Bellingham is doing for England now.
Manager Thomas Tuchel said before the tournament that Bellingham was in a “sweet spot” of form and was in control of England’s stage at this World Cup. And it was Tuchel who said Bellingham was a special player for England.
Mbappe is France’s superstar, Messi is Argentina’s great player and Vini Junior is Brazil’s go-to guy. You can argue about who is the best, but every team needs one player to raise their level at the World Cup. Lamine Yamal will do it for Spain.
Bellingham only turned 23 on Monday, but he is already England’s most important player in this competition alongside Harry Kane. But what’s really exciting is Bellingham’s ability to grow.
His ability to decide the game by the scruff of his neck, seize the moment and make things happen is genius. You see his determination, passion, and temper grow in the best way through frustration.
Bellingham played deeper this time, allowing Morgan Rodgers to play the number 10 role, but when England needed some extra magic, he was there.
Bellingham opened the scoring with a corner kick from Bukayo’s Saka, then assisted Kane to seal the win. The job is now done, and the legs are saved for the final 32 tie against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bellingham has already debunked the myth that he’s not a team player. He is the epitome of a team player when the team needs him.
Bellingham produced his best performance for England against Panama (Image: Jussi Eskola/Soccrates/Getty Images)
This time it was Bellingham who scored the decisive goal. He achieved that with an overhead kick in England’s relief game against Slovakia at Euro 2024. The list continues to grow.
He scored a goal against Italy in October 2023, helping England qualify for the Euros. Bellingham scored England’s first goal of the 2022 World Cup in the 6-2 win over Iran. His first goal in a major tournament signified a new chapter.
It was Tuchel who attempted “tough love” on Bellingham to get him to play for England and fit into the team ethic. To say it was a turning point is wrong and incredibly patronizing.
Bellingham is smart and understands that he has to think about his team. And all you have to do is look at the photos of the celebrations throughout this tournament. He’s either hugging or being hugged. They are all together.
Tuchel was understandably full of praise. “I don’t know if it’s a reaction or not,” the England manager said. “But that’s what we want from him. He’s been very positive since the first day of camp.
England beat Panama 2-0 in the World Cup clash (Image: Getty)
“He fully embraces everything we ask of him as a team player and brings his own personal qualities to decide the football game.
“That’s what we’re seeing at this World Cup and what we’re seeing from other teams and other big players. We have it in him and he’s a key player. He fully accepts everything we ask of him as a team player. He’s done well so far. He needs to keep moving forward.”
Tuchel insisted it was not just about Bellingham or Kane (who has scored three goals in this tournament, surpassing Gary Lineker’s World Cup record) if England are to make significant progress. However, he stressed that other members of the team deserve praise.
He added: “If you look closely, sometimes it’s just someone running away to make room for Jude to shine. They work in units.
“When you see in the first half that Jude has an opportunity to get free and make a run into the box, Nico O’Reilly makes this run and makes just enough runs to beat the opposition and that’s what it is.”
“Like I said, to increase the threat of attack and increase repetition, you have to work on patterns, you have to work on units. If everyone just plays freestyle, no one knows what the other person is thinking.
“So we want to play more in patterns, more in units. And we feel like we’re getting more and more understanding. And Jude is part of that. That’s basically what we need and what we’re asking for.”
“In some ways we want players to come on at key moments and I’m sure Nico O’Reilly pretty much did that against Ghana. Harry did it. Jude did it. And I’m sure Morgan Rodgers, Anthony Gordon, Noni and Bukayo will do it when the time comes and we need that.”
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