Jude Bellingham is a “unique” talent with a “special” ability to reach the very top.
That is the verdict from England No. 2 Steve Holland, who compared Bellingham’s mentality to the likes of Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry in the way he is so focused every day in training. Holland believes 19-year-old Bellingham has gone to “another level” physically in the last 12 months and that has shown in his performances for England at this World Cup.
Bellingham’s fearless attitude, his bravery and surging runs make him look like Paul Gascoigne in the way he took Italia '90 by storm, and former Chelsea coach Holland says his goals have made him a match-winner.
Holland said of Bellingham: “He’s unique. When you’re categorising really top players, I was lucky enough in eight years at Chelsea to experience a few of those. There are the physical attributes, there are the technical attributes, we’ve talked about Lionel Messi and those special techniques that make you special.
“My experience would be that what makes the top, top ones is the mentality, the mental aspect of it, the self-belief, the confidence, the drive, the ambition every day to push and be competitive. There were a few at Chelsea during my time that I felt were always there every time in training. Cole, Lampard, Drogba, Terry, there were others.
“Players that weren’t super-gifted physically or super-gifted technically, a high level still, but the mental aspect of it took them to a different level of performance. Jude has those mental attributes. There’s only three things that you can do in football: stop goals, make goals, score goals. That’s how you contribute. Jude can do all of those things.
“And recently, he has begun to score goals, which is the bit that makes the biggest players big. It’s a match-winning ability that he is adding to his game.” Bellingham has established himself as Europe’s most exciting midfield prospect while at Borussia Dortmund to leave Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool chasing him.
The Brummie teenager has been dominating Champions League games for a long time, yet Gareth Southgate has been seemingly reluctant to start him regularly for England until now. Bellingham has proved his point at this World Cup but Holland revealed why they previously decided to hold him back - and it was all down to him playing in the Bundesliga rather than the Premier League.
Can Jude Bellingham inspire England to World Cup glory in Qatar? Have your say in the comments!
Holland said: “I think the Bundesliga, with respect to it, is a good league to develop in as a young player. It’s probably not quite as challenging every week as the Premier League is. You get huge games, he is playing in front of a huge crowd every week with the expectation that brings and he is playing in the Champions League.
“But I would say that the bottom half of the Bundesliga is not quite as good as the bottom half of the Premier League because of the financial clout we have. I think he still gets a fair share of games where he is comfortable and he is enjoying playing on the ball and not always on the limit, which for a young player is a good way to develop. His impact in this tournament, for a player of his age, is already hugely unusual.”
Holland also says that Bellingham has matured on and off the pitch, while he has enough good people around him from his loving family upbringing to ensure that he remains humble and grounded. He is still definitely both of those things.
Holland added: “I’m always balanced, as Gareth is, with the amount of praise because we have seen so many where so much goes wrong because they (players) believe in their publicity when they are young. I don’t think that will happen with Jude.
“But I don’t think that there is any value in me putting him on a particular pedestal yet, only to say that he deserves everything he has achieved. His potential is through the roof and, provided he keeps working as he is - and there’s no reason to think that he won’t - for sure he has an incredible career for many years at the absolute highest level.”
