"Going down the wrong route" - Pundit calls out Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham for his recent behavior
Former Liverpool star Dietmar Hamann reckons Real Madrid ace Jude Bellingham is going down the wrong path due to the latter's questionable attitude during Euro 2024.
England fought their way to the Euro 2024 final where they lost 2-1 against Spain on July 14. Bellingham's tournament-long struggles continued as he failed to make an impact, leading to the Three Lions losing their second Euros final in a row.
Despite starting all seven of England's games at Euro 2024, Bellingham largely struggled to offer much going forward - despite scoring two goals. One of his strikes included an excellent bicycle kick in their 2-1 win against Slovakia in the Round of 16. However, he appeared to make a lewd gesture towards the opposition's bench after by grabbing his crotch. This earned the 21-year-old a suspended one-match ban.
Hamann gave his verdict on Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, telling TopOffshoreSportsBooks (via DAZN):
"Jude Bellingham, at the moment, is going down the wrong route. If you look at some of the comments he has made, including about the referee in Germany when he got away with a fine when he should’ve been banned."
"There's a lot of things he said or he's done which I don't like. I didn't like his behaviour at all. He barged into Filip Kostic in the first game [against Serbia] after a tackle and he should’ve been booked for it."
He added:
"Then he scores the last-minute goal against Slovakia and he stands there saying: ‘Who else?’ Now I'd like to know what all his teammates think because there's 10 players next to him who are top class players in their own right."
"Now he's obviously got it in his head that he's the best and he's the greatest in that team. You've got to be careful because there's always someone bigger than you. If you behave like that, you tempt fate when at the moment, I think the jury's out."
In addition to his suspended one-game ban, Bellingham was also fined €30,000. He was fortunate to feature in England's penalty-shootout win against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
"He was nowhere to be seen" - Dietmar Hamann believes Jude Bellingham wasn't effective for Real Madrid in the second half of the season
From the aforementioned source, football pundit Dietmar Hamann also explained why Jude Bellingham wasn't as important for Real Madrid in the second half of last season. He believes the England international was less effective as the season progressed, crediting Andriy Lunin, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Toni Kroos instead.
"He had a good first half of the season at Real Madrid," Hamann said. "But in the quarter-final, semi-final and the final of the Champions League he was nowhere to be seen."
He continued:
"They won the Champions League because of Andriy Lunin, because of Toni Kroos, because of Vini Junior, because of Rodrygo - not because of Bellingham."
Jude Bellingham had a standout debut season for Real Madrid, helping them win three trophies and putting himself in the race for the 2024 Ballon d'Or. He netted 23 goals and provided 13 assists in 42 appearances across all competitions.
However, he performed significantly better in the first half of the season. He registered 22 goal contributions in total, compared to 14 in the second half (January onwards).