If England are to have any chance of winning the World Cup in the summer, then Jude Bellingham has to be at the heart of the team. Anything else, frankly, will count as the greatest act of self-sabotage this nation has ever perpetrated at the tournament.
Sure, we have had the debate about Bellingham’s haughty attitude towards his team-mates on the pitch and what England coach Thomas Tuchel needed to do to mould him into the player and the personality he needed him to be for the long trip to the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Those were legitimate arguments and there were times during the qualifying campaign where it felt as if England were spoiled for choice in creative attacking positions and that Bellingham’s influence and power had waned as Tuchel established his authority.
Tuchel describing Bellingham’s behaviour as ‘repulsive’ was, of course, a huge misstep which the England manager has blamed on the subtleties of the language. He left Bellingham out of qualifiers when he was available and England sailed through to the tournament anyway.
But the time for playing power games is over now. The time for posturing and manoeuvring is gone. We are the business end of the build-up to the World Cup and it feels absurd that there should be any doubt over whether Bellingham, if fully fit, should start England’s opening game against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
We have plenty of form in the self-sabotage department. The marginalisation of Glenn Hoddle at the 1982 World Cup is probably the clearest example of it. When Hoddle became manager, his callous man-management of David Beckham at the 1998 tournament fitted the template, too.
Thomas Tuchel left Jude Bellingham out of World Cup qualifiers last year and England sailed through to the tournament anyway
But the time for playing power games is over now – and it feels absurd that there should be any doubt over whether Bellingham, if fully fit, should start England’s opening game against Croatia
And yes, there are sublime talents among England’s attacking midfielders. A year ago, England could have boasted with some certainty that they had the finest array of No 10s of any nation in the world.
But things have changed over the last year, as they tend to do before a World Cup. Things have changed and the balance of power has shifted. Now that the start of the tournament is only a couple of months away, Tuchel needs Bellingham a lot more than Bellingham needs Tuchel.
That talent pool does not look quite as rich any more. Phil Foden is desperately short of form and confidence. He tried hard when he started against Uruguay at Wembley on Friday evening but he looked like a player groping in the dark for his best form. He may struggle to make the squad.
Cole Palmer, who is such a beautiful player to watch, appears to have been neutered by the chaos at Chelsea and has been afflicted by a series of injuries. He is not, currently, the transformative player he was 12 months ago. As things stand, he will be coming off the bench.
Bukayo Saka, another sublime attacking talent, has been looking tired and overworked at Arsenal for some time. That is unlikely to change as Arsenal press ever harder for their first league title for 22 years and pursue their chase for a first Champions League triumph.
And Morgan Rogers, who is thought to be in pole position for the No 10 role, has faded in luminosity as Aston Villa’s outstanding season has faltered as they move into sight of the prize of a finish in the top five.
Even if all those players had been on top form, there should never really have been any debate about whether Bellingham would start for England at the World Cup. But the fact that his challengers have fallen away only heightens Bellingham’s importance to England.
Bellingham is a generational talent. That has not changed just because he has had an injury-disrupted season. In some ways, that just makes him even more important. Many of his team-mates will reach the end of the season in a state of exhaustion. Bellingham, barring another setback, will be fresh and raring to go.
Bellingham has already proved his ability to turn up when it matters in major tournaments – with his spectacular last-minute equaliser against Slovakia at Euro 2024 a prime example
England’s attacking options look far less impressive than a year agol. Bukayo Saka, though a sublime talent, has been looking tired and overworked at Arsenal for some time
England may have weaknesses elsewhere, particularly in defence, but in Bellingham, we have a world class midfielder who starts for Real Madrid, who are still close to being the best club side in the world.
It takes stature and a big-game mentality to make it at the Bernabeu and Bellingham has fitted right in. He is a player who changes games. In Bellingham, we have a player who oozes quality and class on the pitch. He’s a big-game player. He’s a Rolls-Royce.
It is strange enough that Tuchel has ignored the talent of Bellingham’s Madrid team-mate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, at right back. Preferring Ben White to Alexander-Arnold in his most recent squad looked positively perverse.
But if Tuchel leaves Bellingham out of his starting line-up in the USA, Mexico and Canada, if he consigns him to a role as a bench-player, England can kiss goodbye to any hope they have of winning the World Cup.
Tottenham’s reckless gamble has left them in the lurch
It was obvious to many that, having sacked Thomas Frank last month, appointing an interim manager for the rest of the season so they could keep the permanent seat warm for Mauricio Pochettino to join after the World Cup was a crazy, reckless gamble by the Tottenham Hotspur board.
The gamble was made even more absurd by the fact they appointed a here-today-gone-tomorrow old-fashioned disciplinarian of a caretaker in Igor Tudor and thought he could get a tune out of a toxic dressing room.
This was not an appointment that would make the difference between a team finishing fourth or fifth in the league. This was an appointment that might make the difference between relegation and survival, between life and death. They should have appointed a permanent successor there and then and discounted thoughts of Pochettino.
Like others, I said after Frank’s sacking that Spurs should give the job to Roberto De Zerbi. Nearly seven weeks later, reports suggest that the board are trying to persuade De Zerbi to take the job now. Other reports say they want to appoint Glenn Hoddle as a caretaker.
Tottenham put themselves in a terrible position with their Igor Tudor gamble – but Roberto De Zerbi is their best bet in their bid to secure Premier League survival
I like Glenn Hoddle, but he has not managed a club for 20 years and man-management was never his strong point
I like Hoddle, he has always been an astute tactician, he was a dream of a player and he is a Spurs legend. But he has not managed a club for 20 years and man-management was never his strong point. I’m not sure he could move the dial with players like Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence.
Then again, I’m not sure anybody could move the dial with them. But the last thing Spurs can afford now, as they stare at dropping into the bottom three before their next league game, is the inertia and indecision that has gripped them for too long.
They need clear thinking. De Zerbi is a polarising figure but he has the desire, the drive, the ability and the force of personality to administer shock therapy to this team and get them the couple of wins they need to drag them clear of danger.
No compromises, no more procrastination. If they are already in discussions with him, as reports suggest, then close the deal and close it quickly. Go out and get him and get him now.
