JUDE BELLINGHAM delivered a masterful, super-hero performance in the opening 45 minutes at Euro 2024. Yet we have not seen much from the boy wonder since.
Maybe he left his cloak in the dressing room at Gelsenkirchen and is still looking for it. But he needs to discover in time for the last 16 tie this weekend otherwise England are knackered.
At half-time of that 1-0 win over Serbia, Bellingham, who turns 21 on Saturday, appeared on a bloody-minded mission to drag this England team by the scruff of the net and carry it into the knockout stages.
As Southgate admitted afterwards, he put 90 minutes of running into that first half performance and in fairness, it would have been impossible for any player on this planet to keep that up.
Like the rest of his team, Bellingham was below-par in the 1-1 draw against Denmark. And for all of the game last night, despite putting in the hard yards, Bellingham cut a frustrated figure in an England midfield which is still not quite right.
So, now we are approaching the serious part of Euro 2024. This team really does need to get a grip and start showing some personality.
Let’s hope Bellingham can sprinkle some stardust in the knockout stages because Gareth Southgate certainly needs something.
During Bellingham’s incredible season in LaLiga, there was also one period in Spain, when he was not quite reaching the stunning levels he had done for much of the campaign for Real Madrid and the Spanish media described his spell as a “‘grey’ one. It was not terrible just not at his normal 10/10 standards.
In the Champions League final at Wembley, Bellingham delivered the assist for Vinicius Junior to score the second goal against Bayern Munich but it was still a largely disappointing performance by the lad from Stourbridge.
At times last night, Bellingham just looked a bit lost. When Slovenia had the ball, he played in the No10 position with Foden out wide on the left.
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Yet with England in possession, Bellingham, drifted out to the left which was the position he ended the season for Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu.
In the first half, Bellingham failed to create any chances, win any duels or cause any problems with one of his trademark mazy runs.
Also, the quick passing combinations were not there. At times his control was poor, as summed up with the moment he received a stunning second half pass from Harry Kane as he rushed into the area.
He needed to control the ball with one touch before sticking it past Jan Oblak but again, Bellingham showed a lack of composure and fluffed his lines.
There is still the argument that in the last 16, Bellingham should drop deeper next to Declan Rice.
It certainly will not be Conor Gallagher starting again in that spot after his disastrous first half and England were better with Kobbie Mainoo in that spot.
With Bellingham playing slightly deeper, it would allow Foden to play as a no 10 allowing Southgate to unleash Anthony Gordon.
Yet whatever happens, do not expect wholesale changes from Southgate who will remain patient and refuse to panic.
Bellingham should come good. This could still be HIS tournament.
At the last World Cup, he was terrific against Iran, superb against Senegal in the last 16 and also did well against France in the quarter-finals.
Yet at no stage has Bellingham, or any of his team-mates, looked anywhere near as good as they did in Qatar 18 months ago.
Bellingham, who has already done things many players of his age can only dream of, is his biggest critic so he will not be happy.
We are still unlikely to hear from him publicly as he rarely speaks to the media and only spoke after the match against Serbia because he was Uefa’s player-of-the tournament.
But none of us will care about hearing his voice if he can let his football do the talking on the pitch.
Portugal won Euro 2016 despite drawing all three of their group games. But it still seems unthinkable that this team will be in Berlin on July 14.
