Mailbag: Bellingham, England, Liverpool, Spurs and more!
Hi everyone, and welcome to another mailbag. These were great questions as ever, and I don’t think we need to waste any time, so let’s get into it.
Elliott McDowell asks…
“Do you think that Mbappe's impending move to Real Madrid will stunt Bellingham's development?”
With Kylian Mbappé seemingly more likely than ever to head to Madrid (though we remember what happened last time), it really is worth asking these questions. I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti has spent a lot of time by now pondering how the Frenchman would change his team.
Thinking about it from Bellingham’s perspective, I’m still not sure we know what his best role even is. Had he played in another era, he’d have surely been an old fashioned English “Roy of the Rovers” box-to-box midfielder, covering “every blade of grass”. That doesn’t really exist anymore. Even 15-20 years ago, we saw Rafa Benítez refuse to give Steven Gerrard the licence to play in that role, while José Mourinho turned Frank Lampard into the most advanced midfielder in a three.
Bellingham is currently ranked as the single most valuable player in the world on Transfermarkt. I think it’s a bit generous to but him above Mbappé and Erling Haaland, but whatever. Of the top ten (the aforementioned three plus Vinícius, Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala, Phil Foden, Lautaro Martínez, Victor Osimhen and Declan Rice), Bellingham definitely has the widest skillset. Think of anything you’d want a footballer to be able to do and he can do it. That’s obviously tremendous for a 20-year-old, but I’d be surprised if it’s still true when he’s 25. As players mature, they tend to hone a few key skills and strip away other parts of their game, moving from generalists to specialists. The €103 million question is: what does Bellingham turn into?
Reports suggest Florentino Pérez wants to see Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Jr. and Rodrygo all start together, because of course he does. Ancelotti, supposedly, has three apparent ideas of how the team could work:
Mbappé starting as the striker, with Vinícius and Rodrygo either side while Bellingham moves into a deeper midfield role.
A midfield diamond, as we’ve seen at times this season, with Bellingham as a number ten behind Viní and Mbappé (Rodrygo would be on the bench).
Bellingham playing a left-sided role in a 4-4-2, with Mbappé and Vinícius upfront.
Moving deeper into midfield would certainly redefine his game. It’d be closer to the Bellingham we saw at the last World Cup, doing ball progression work outside the box to link the team together. I’m sure he’d still get involved plenty in the final third, but he’d become a little more like Lampard crashing the box from deep, rather than someone permanently stationed up there. He can also offer a lot in terms of ball progression. I like this in theory, but it’s the opposite to his trajectory so far. Bellingham makes nearly twice as many touches in the opponent’s box per 90 these days as he did in his first two years at Dortmund. Move him deeper and you’re pulling those numbers back down again to concentrate on his skills in the build up.
The midfield diamond role would be the opposite. On paper, that would see him keep playing the way he has done this season, but he’d no longer be the team’s dominant attacker. Mbappé has at times complained about having to play as a line-leading striker, preferring to play off a more conventional nine who can link the play. Bellingham is not that, but in a more advanced role he might find himself having to become a false nine who does the dirty work for the Frenchman. I would worry about him adjusting to that role.
But playing on the left definitely feels like the short straw. I’m guessing this would be a “big game” option, but still, you’d be limiting his involvement quite a bit by turning him into a wide shuttler. This is Real Madrid, I know, but I think there should probably be a conversation about selling Rodrygo and spending the money on a conventional striker. Just get someone who can be the static forward that Mbappé, Vinícius and Bellingham can play off. I don’t think this group of attackers really make sense collectively, and someone is going to have to sacrifice their own game for the collective.
Speaking of Bellingham…
Keep on reading for my thoughts on England, Liverpool, Spurs and more!