📂 Categoría: Football,World Cup | 📅 Fecha: 1779390137
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Only in England would this be a debate – and it really shouldn’t be!
Jude Bellingham starts at the World Cup, and any version of the Three Lions without him is ludicrous, bordering on pure madness.
This is not a throwback to the so-called England Golden Generation, where players were largely picked on name value over form.
Nor is this meant to undermine the fantastic seasons of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers or Nottingham Forest talisman, Morgan Gibbs-White.
However, with the latter’s club teammate Elliot Anderson likely to start alongside Declan Rice at the base of England’s midfield, that leaves just one spot at No.10 in Thomas Tuchel’s preferred set-up.
And that slot belongs to Bellingham.
Sorry, Hugh Woozencroft, he’s not a supersub, and the Three Lions’ World Cup hopes definitely do not improve without him in the XI.
Gabby Agbonlahor then said after Aston Villa ended their 30-year trophy drought with a 3-0 win over Freiburg in the Europa League final that there is ‘no debate now’ over whether Rogers starts.
“There’s no debate between now and the World Cup who’s going to play number 10,” he told Ally McCoist the morning after Istanbul.
“We’re going to need something else to talk about on talkSPORT because it’s Morgan Rogers. Simple as that.”
Unfortunately for Gabby, the Neuralyzer from Men in Black doesn’t exist, and this was him after Rogers’ last start for England in March.
“All those idiots are quiet out there who were saying he shouldn’t go, he’s a problem, he shouldn’t start,” Agbonlahor said on Bellingham. “He walks into our side in that first game against Croatia.”
With the greatest of respect, that opinion isn’t worth a U-turn on because Rogers won a cup that Bellingham was too elite to play in.
Agbonlahor’s fellow Brummie has played a total of 180 minutes of Europa League football in his career across just two appearances.
That came in only his second season at Borussia Dortmund when the club dropped into UEFA’s secondary competition for a knockout playoff against Rangers, who stunned the Germans 6-4 on aggregate en route to reaching the 2021/22 final.
But if there was any indication that Bellingham didn’t belong in the Europa League, it was that he was involved in all four of BVB’s goals.
The then-18-year-old scored both home and away against the Gers, while assisting in each of the two legs in his only Europa stint.
There is also no argument to suggest that playing Rogers at No.10 means dropping Bellingham deeper with Rice to shoehorn him in.
Bellingham stats vs England’s other No.10s
So the leading argument levelled against the 22-year-old has been that this year is his lowest goal output to date in a Real Madrid shirt.
Bellingham has scored five goals and laid on another four assists in his 27 LaLiga appearances for the Spanish giants this campaign.
The context behind that should be pretty obvious – he didn’t start a game until the end of September after missing all of pre-season.
Bellingham underwent surgery to correct a long-standing shoulder injury in July, which he initially put off to play at Euro 2024.
After getting himself up to speed, the midfielder scored four of his five league goals and registered three of his four assists within a nine-game run under Xabi Alonso from October to December.
Alonso left, and Bellingham’s form has taken a hit under his successor, Alvaro Arbeloa, as is the case for the majority of the Madrid squad.
The former Dortmund midfielder wasn’t helped either by a hamstring injury in February that sidelined him for two months.
In his absence, his rivals for England’s No.10 spot have more than enhanced their credentials to be named in Tuchel’s squad.
Nicolò Zaniolo told me in March that Rogers can become one of the best in the world, while Gibbs-White is deservedly among the Premier League player of the season nominees.
But only England fans would try to argue that a fit Bellingham should be on the bench for either of them this summer, and certainly not for either of Cole Palmer or Phil Foden.
Bellingham is England’s Yamal/Mbappe
Spain’s talisman, Lamine Yamal, has similarly had his own injury issues, with his 16 league goals matched by another Barcelona attacker.
Yet you’ll be hard-pressed to find La Roja media saying that once the teenager returns, he might be playing second fiddle to Ferran Torres.
Regardless of current form, would France drop Kylian Mbappe for a front-three of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue?
Critics will try to argue that Bellingham doesn’t belong in that category – he absolutely does.
It’s easy to forget, considering how early he burst onto the scene, that he’s 12 months younger than Rogers, three years adrift of Foden’s age and four years Gibbs-White’s junior.
Bellingham remains the third youngest England player and only the sixth ever to have been capped before he officially turned 18.
He is the second youngest scorer for England at a World Cup, having notched his first senior international goal in the Qatar opening game.
Bellingham then kick-started the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 campaign, and of course, there was that bicycle kick against Slovakia.
The Birmingham City academy graduate has also assisted goals in the finals of both the Euros and the Champions League, a competition, incidentally, that he has not only already won but is the youngest player in its history to reach 50 appearances in.
He has even shown his penalty credentials with an ice-cold finish from the spot in the shootout win over Switzerland.
Trying to erase those big moments because of a perceived ‘attitude problem’ is laughable – yes, he moans, and yes, he knows he’s good.
Do you really believe Yamal’s social posts, Mbappe’s antics or Vinicius Junior’s dancing mean their nations are better without them?
No, you don’t – because the World Cup is a stage meant for the biggest players and pretending Bellingham isn’t one of them is just silly.
As evidenced by his recent Adidas advert with Yamal and Lionel Messi, the rest of the world knows Bellingham is the Three Lions’ superstar.
It’s time England universally accepted that as well…
Stay up to date with all the latest World Cup Winner Odds, World Cup Top Goalscorer Odds, World Cup Group Winner Odds and all the best World Cup Betting Offers and Free Bets in our dedicated betting hub
Only in England would this be a debate – and it really shouldn’t be!
Jude Bellingham starts at the World Cup, and any version of the Three Lions without him is ludicrous, bordering on pure madness.
This is not a throwback to the so-called England Golden Generation, where players were largely picked on name value over form.
Nor is this meant to undermine the fantastic seasons of Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers or Nottingham Forest talisman, Morgan Gibbs-White.
However, with the latter’s club teammate Elliot Anderson likely to start alongside Declan Rice at the base of England’s midfield, that leaves just one spot at No.10 in Thomas Tuchel’s preferred set-up.
And that slot belongs to Bellingham.
Sorry, Hugh Woozencroft, he’s not a supersub, and the Three Lions’ World Cup hopes definitely do not improve without him in the XI.
Gabby Agbonlahor then said after Aston Villa ended their 30-year trophy drought with a 3-0 win over Freiburg in the Europa League final that there is ‘no debate now’ over whether Rogers starts.
“There’s no debate between now and the World Cup who’s going to play number 10,” he told Ally McCoist the morning after Istanbul.
“We’re going to need something else to talk about on talkSPORT because it’s Morgan Rogers. Simple as that.”
Unfortunately for Gabby, the Neuralyzer from Men in Black doesn’t exist, and this was him after Rogers’ last start for England in March.
“All those idiots are quiet out there who were saying he shouldn’t go, he’s a problem, he shouldn’t start,” Agbonlahor said on Bellingham. “He walks into our side in that first game against Croatia.”
With the greatest of respect, that opinion isn’t worth a U-turn on because Rogers won a cup that Bellingham was too elite to play in.
Agbonlahor’s fellow Brummie has played a total of 180 minutes of Europa League football in his career across just two appearances.
That came in only his second season at Borussia Dortmund when the club dropped into UEFA’s secondary competition for a knockout playoff against Rangers, who stunned the Germans 6-4 on aggregate en route to reaching the 2021/22 final.
But if there was any indication that Bellingham didn’t belong in the Europa League, it was that he was involved in all four of BVB’s goals.
The then-18-year-old scored both home and away against the Gers, while assisting in each of the two legs in his only Europa stint.
There is also no argument to suggest that playing Rogers at No.10 means dropping Bellingham deeper with Rice to shoehorn him in.
Bellingham stats vs England’s other No.10s
So the leading argument levelled against the 22-year-old has been that this year is his lowest goal output to date in a Real Madrid shirt.
Bellingham has scored five goals and laid on another four assists in his 27 LaLiga appearances for the Spanish giants this campaign.
The context behind that should be pretty obvious – he didn’t start a game until the end of September after missing all of pre-season.
Bellingham underwent surgery to correct a long-standing shoulder injury in July, which he initially put off to play at Euro 2024.
After getting himself up to speed, the midfielder scored four of his five league goals and registered three of his four assists within a nine-game run under Xabi Alonso from October to December.
Alonso left, and Bellingham’s form has taken a hit under his successor, Alvaro Arbeloa, as is the case for the majority of the Madrid squad.
The former Dortmund midfielder wasn’t helped either by a hamstring injury in February that sidelined him for two months.
In his absence, his rivals for England’s No.10 spot have more than enhanced their credentials to be named in Tuchel’s squad.
Nicolò Zaniolo told me in March that Rogers can become one of the best in the world, while Gibbs-White is deservedly among the Premier League player of the season nominees.
But only England fans would try to argue that a fit Bellingham should be on the bench for either of them this summer, and certainly not for either of Cole Palmer or Phil Foden.
Bellingham is England’s Yamal/Mbappe
Spain’s talisman, Lamine Yamal, has similarly had his own injury issues, with his 16 league goals matched by another Barcelona attacker.
Yet you’ll be hard-pressed to find La Roja media saying that once the teenager returns, he might be playing second fiddle to Ferran Torres.
Regardless of current form, would France drop Kylian Mbappe for a front-three of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue?
Critics will try to argue that Bellingham doesn’t belong in that category – he absolutely does.
It’s easy to forget, considering how early he burst onto the scene, that he’s 12 months younger than Rogers, three years adrift of Foden’s age and four years Gibbs-White’s junior.
Bellingham remains the third youngest England player and only the sixth ever to have been capped before he officially turned 18.
He is the second youngest scorer for England at a World Cup, having notched his first senior international goal in the Qatar opening game.
Bellingham then kick-started the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 campaign, and of course, there was that bicycle kick against Slovakia.
The Birmingham City academy graduate has also assisted goals in the finals of both the Euros and the Champions League, a competition, incidentally, that he has not only already won but is the youngest player in its history to reach 50 appearances in.
He has even shown his penalty credentials with an ice-cold finish from the spot in the shootout win over Switzerland.
Trying to erase those big moments because of a perceived ‘attitude problem’ is laughable – yes, he moans, and yes, he knows he’s good.
Do you really believe Yamal’s social posts, Mbappe’s antics or Vinicius Junior’s dancing mean their nations are better without them?
No, you don’t – because the World Cup is a stage meant for the biggest players and pretending Bellingham isn’t one of them is just silly.
As evidenced by his recent Adidas advert with Yamal and Lionel Messi, the rest of the world knows Bellingham is the Three Lions’ superstar.
It’s time England universally accepted that as well…
Stay up to date with all the latest World Cup Winner Odds, World Cup Top Goalscorer Odds, World Cup Group Winner Odds and all the best World Cup Betting Offers and Free Bets in our dedicated betting hub
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📚 Información de la Fuente
| 📰 Publicación: | talksport.com |
| ✍️ Autor: | Joe Brophy |
| 📅 Fecha Original: | 2026-05-21 19:00:00 |
| 🔗 Enlace: | Ver artículo original |
Nota de transparencia: Este artículo ha sido traducido y adaptado del inglés al español para facilitar su comprensión. El contenido se mantiene fiel a la fuente original, disponible en el enlace proporcionado arriba.
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