Bellingham plays with a natural freedom… he’s special
JUDE BELLINGHAM was being talked about as a £100million player before this World Cup and we could be looking at Borussia Dortmund asking double that by the summer. No matter the price, they will not be short of takers.
Every time I see Bellingham he impresses me. This can be his stage to prove himself a worldclass performer.
I was first alerted to Bellingham by a friend of mine at West Bromwich Albion, who said: ‘You have got to go and watch this kid at Birmingham City.’ He was 16 and more than holding his own in a Championship game.
He played about 20 minutes the first time I watched so I went back and he was equally as good. I ended up watching quite a few Birmingham games because I wanted to see how he was developing. He was a throwback to what midfielders should be: all action. He could pass, tackle, head the ball, he had a goal in him and he was happy going box to box.
His maturity comes from a solid family background. His father Mark was a police officer and non-league footballer so he keeps him grounded.
Manchester United really wanted him but he chose Dortmund. Yet, I think that German discipline has benefited him. You see so many of the players at Dortmund or Bayern Munich come through the ranks with the right attitude and work ethic. Plus he has had invaluable first-team experience that he might not have got in England.
He has done so much with Dortmund that I found it hard to believe that his header against Iran was his first international goal. What I liked about it was the timing of his run, and he did not fling his head at it excitedly, he just glanced it over the goalkeeper using the pace off the cross.
He plays with a natural freedom that comes with youth. He is at a World Cup, it’s the real thing, and that brings pressure, no matter the opposition, as all the world are watching. If you think too much about it you can get nervous and that hinders what you do.
He has to embrace the challenge of testing himself against the best and enjoy it. That is certainly how I viewed it.
I was older than Bellingham in 1982, for my first World Cup match against France and I scored more or less with my first touch but I was up against Alain Giresse, Michel Platini and Jean Tigana and wanted to make my mark. They were good on the ball and I felt it was important for me to get a tackle in and disrupt what they did. Top players are not so keen to defend so they will give you a chance and that is what Bellingham has to be wise to as he progresses.
His dynamic with Declan Rice is thriving. My best partnerships were probably with Ray Wilkins and Paul Gascoigne, certainly the latter if I had not picked up as many injuries. I found it helped if you both got on well off the pitch. Ray and I knew each other from kids and Gazza was another Geordie boy like me who used to always tell me I was his favourite player, so I liked him!
Ray liked to get on the ball and allow me to get forward whereas with Gazza I was happy to hold and give him freedom to roam. Rice and Bellingham are balancing off each other and look as if they get on.
To me, Rice is captain material. He told Bellingham in the tunnel before the game he would look after him and he is constantly talking, covering for his team-mate and encouraging, as well as leading by example with his play. It looks a good relationship. Bellingham will be a marked man against USA after his Iran goal but I’m not too concerned because, with Rice around him, and the array of exciting forward players we have, the opposition have more to worry about. I heard Rio Ferdinand say Bellingham could be captain now, and I understand that, but let’s not put any extra pressure on him, let him grow because he can be special. It is up to him to show he belongs on this stage and take England with him.