“With Bellingham we can have an excuse” - Liverpool legend defends Real Madrid star despite Euro 2024 struggles with England
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has defender Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham amidst his poor performances for England UEFA Euro 2024. The midfielder has struggled, as have the entire team, in the tournament so far.
The Three Lions were expected to be one of the most dominant teams at Euro 2024 due to their squad. The likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Phil Foden all had impressive 2023-24 campaigns with their respective clubs. However, they have failed to replicate that form for England so far.
Bellingham scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Serbia in the Three Lions' opening game. The Real Madrid star failed to make any impact in their next two games though, which ended in draws against Denmark (1-1) and Slovenia (0-0).
Consequently, he's faced plenty of criticism but Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has come to his defense. He pointed out that Bellingham has no service at England, saying on ESPNFC:
“Jude Bellingham is a guy, who is at his best, certainly from an attacking sense, [when he is] getting into the box late. But when you’re not sure what’s going on around you, particularly in the wide areas, when to go, when to say and when to get involved, then you’re kind of wasting a lot of energy running around trying to figure out [what to do next].
“A guy like Bellingham who thrives on doing damage to the opposition in their penalty box has no idea [what to do in this case].
The former Liverpool defender pointed out England's midfield issues, saying:
"With Bellingham we can have an excuse, Alexander-Arnold in the middle during the first two games absolutely didn’t work. Conor Gallagher didn’t work [either].
“We saw when Mainoo came on in the second half, whether that was to do with Slovenia running out of steam or England putting pressure on, he made it better. That freed up Bellingham to get involved a lot more in my opinion.”
England did finish at the top of Group C and were the only ones in the entire group to have managed a win.
Jude Bellingham's 2023-24 season after he joined Real Madrid over Liverpool
During the 2022-23 season, there was plenty of speculation about Jude Bellingham's future at Borussia Dortmund. He was heavily linked with a number of clubs, with Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Manchester City being the most prominent names. He, however, chose to join the Spanish giants in a €103 million move last summer.
Bellingham had an instant impact with Los Blancos, playing as a box-crashing midfielder, especially with the squad playing without a main striker. He also played as an attacking midfielder and a central midfielder. He scored 23 goals and provided 13 assists in 42 games across competitions.
The 20-year-old helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title, the UEFA Champions League, and the Supercopa de Espana. He himself won the Golden Boy award over Jamal Musiala. If he can guide England to the UEFA Euro 2024 trophy, he might also be one of the favorites to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or.