The pass he had made to set up Kylian Mbappe’s goal in the 22nd minute of El Clasico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu last Sunday was sublime. The way Jude Bellingham span away from his marker in midfield, spotted the Frenchman’s run and delivered the pass with perfect timing and slide-rule accuracy was breathtaking.
Later in the game, Bellingham scored the winner in Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona with a nonchalant tap-in and rather than celebrating wildly, he strutted calmly in front of the delirious home fans with a swagger that said he was back.
If he wanted us all to know what we have been missing while he was nursing a shoulder injury last season and then recovering from the surgery to repair it at the start of this season, he provided more evidence of it in Madrid’s 4-0 demolition of Valencia on Saturday evening.
Bellingham ran the show for Xabi Alonso’s side and scored a beautiful goal just before half-time, stepping inside his man on the edge of the box and curling a fierce low drive beyond the reach of the Valencia goalkeeper. Bellingham was later named Madrid’s man-of-the-match.
It was the start of a big week for Bellingham, perhaps the continuation of a rehabilitation process for a player who many feel did not need to be rehabilitated in the first place. On Tuesday, it is presumed he will be selected for the Madrid side that will play Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League.
And on Friday, it is presumed that he will be named by England manager Thomas Tuchel in his squad for the World Cup qualifying matches against Serbia at home and Albania away later this month that will complete England’s campaign.
Jude Bellingham is back to his best form at Real Madrid and can’t be overlooked by England
Bellingham’s recent impressive displays include scoring this winner against Barcelona
Thomas Tuchel has omitted Bellingham from his recent England World Cup qualifying squads
Those qualifiers are dead rubbers – England have already qualified for next summer’s World Cup. And yet the squad selection feels as if it might be the most important of the entire campaign because it will tell us whether Bellingham has a part to play under Tuchel.
If it appears to be a given that he will take his place in the Madrid starting line-up, there is still some uncertainty about whether the man who until recently was regarded as England’s best player will be selected by Tuchel on Friday.
The news may well leak in advance – it usually does – but this is a genuine hold-your-breath moment for the England team and its prospects for next summer’s World Cup finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Many find it unthinkable that Bellingham will be ostracised by Tuchel once more and yet it is undeniable that the England manager has been perturbed by Bellingham’s behaviour in previous England appearances and has felt the atmosphere in the squad was improved without him there in recent away victories in Serbia and Latvia.
Tuchel called some of Bellingham’s actions ‘repulsive’ before he apologised for his choice of word and said the meaning had been lost in translation. It did not stop him leaving Bellingham out of the next England squad for the friendly against Wales and the tie in Riga when England sealed their qualification.
That felt like a slap-down but there was always the rationale that Bellingham was still feeling his way back to full fitness. Now he is clearly recovered. Now he is restored to one of Madrid’s most influential players. If Tuchel does not pick him this time, it will be time to start contemplating England flying to the World Cup next summer without our talisman.
Tuchel’s a brave manager. He is not afraid of courting controversy. He is not afraid of taking on big-name players. In fact, he seems actively to relish it. But even in that context, it would still seem desperately harsh on Bellingham and deeply damaging to England’s prospects if he is left out.
It is hard to think of precedents. Perhaps the closest might be Sir Alf Ramsey leaving out England’s greatest goalscorer Jimmy Greaves during the 1966 World Cup when Greaves recovered from injury and Ramsey refused to sacrifice Geoff Hurst to accommodate his return.
Many find it unthinkable that Bellingham will be ostracised by Tuchel once more and yet it is undeniable that the England manager has been perturbed by Bellingham’s behaviour before
Bellingham was pictured kicking a water cooler by the side of the pitch in anger after England’s defeat by Senegal in June
Tuchel has felt the atmosphere during England camps has improved recently without the star
Terry Venables resisted the clamour to make Matt Le Tissier the fulcrum of his attack and Glenn Hoddle left Paul Gascoigne out of the 1998 World Cup squad, which was a shock at the time but makes more sense now, knowing what we know about Gazza’s fragility. None of them are quite comparable to the idea of discarding Bellingham.
Sure, he has baggage. The pernicious influence of his father, Mark, has been flushed out into the open in recent months, mostly after he and Bellingham’s mother, Denise, were reported to have become involved in a heated exchange with Borussia Dortmund officials over the treatment of their younger son, Jobe.
And Tuchel has made repeated, if oblique, references to the negative influence he feels Jude sometimes exerts on England players around him with body language that some interpret as him feeling that his colleagues in the national team do not measure up to his standards.
But Tuchel has made his point now. He has made it clear he wants Bellingham to change his attitude. He has made an example of him, which cannot have been easy for the player, especially as there are suggestions that his parents may have separated in the last year.
Maybe we need to look at this another way. Bellingham will have been stung by his treatment by Tuchel. It has turned him into a talking point and a cause celebre. His pride will be hurt. He may feel keen resentment towards the England manager.
Jobe Bellingham’s (left) parents Denise and Mark have been banned from Borussia Dortmund’s dressing room after the latter’s reported outburst after their 3-3 draw at St Pauli in August
Mark Bellingham reportedly tried to confront the Dortmund manager over his son’s subbing
Whatever their respective emotions, it is time to start again, surely. It is time to give Bellingham another chance. It is part of any manager’s remit to get the best out of his players and it is impossible to get the best out of Bellingham if he is sitting at home in Madrid.
Tuchel has to make it work. If he is worried Bellingham will upset morale in the squad, he has to fix it. The odds will be stacked against England winning the World Cup next summer anyway, but they will have a better chance of doing it if Bellingham is in the side. England have some fine players but not enough that they can afford to discard a man of his sublime talents.
If Tuchel leaves Bellingham out of the squad on Friday, it will be the manager’s failure. It will be a failure to integrate a man who has the potential to be England’s best player. It will be a failure to give this country its best shot at winning the tournament. It will be a failure to persuade him he needs to be more of a team player.
Bellingham has to be given another chance. For all he has achieved, he is still a young man. He is still learning. He is still coming to terms with the idea of greater responsibilities. If Tuchel can harness his wonderful talent, the need to get the very best version of Bellingham that England needs can go from being the manager’s greatest failure to his greatest victory.
