Called MG names when he played in Spain. +1 in my opinionHe's an outstanding player and a shite personality. I would not like him at the club.
Called MG names when he played in Spain. +1 in my opinion
There hasn't been much talk about him on here in a while. What do people think of him at the minute? Since returning from injury, I think he's been decent.
Played a bit deeper last night and whilst he didn't see as much of the ball as usual, his defensive work was good:
He isn't the one to dictate tempo for sure, but don't think this is a fair comparison at all.It's a match that highlighted his strengths and weaknesses. He's a midfielder who has great energy, strength and can carry the ball forward better than anyone else but then struggles to keep possession and control the match. Kimmich and Pavlovic showed that in the second half and it really helped Bayern.
He's fine to play with other midfielders who can cover for when Bellingham goes forward but if he's one of 3 in midfield, especially as a deeper one in an attacking system, it can be an issue with the space he leaves behind.
I can understand why Tuchel is hesitant to play him in a midfield 3, England will struggle to control games with him there.
He isn't the one to dictate tempo for sure, but don't think this is a fair comparison at all.
He was playing together with Valverde (box to box) and Arda Guler (an attacking midfielder), himself being a box to box/attacking midfielder as well.
Bayern Munich played with 3 proper midfielders in the person of Laimer (who played as leftback but inverted a lot), , Kimmich, Pavlovic. The approach to the game from Bayern and Real were completely opposite.
Kimmich or Pavlovic are more controlling midfielders than Bellingham, that is obvious. But Bellingham wasn't the problem, Real played with 0 controlling midfielders and Bayern played with 2 or maybe 2,5 in Laimer. If you play Bellingham with 2 controlling midfielders, or at least 1, things already look much different and he has shown this before in his career.The approach was the opposite but my point is that it's difficult to play with control if you have Bellingham as one of your CM's. If the players were opposite and either Kimmich or Pavlovic were in Madrid, they might have tried to also control the play more than relying purely on defending deep and counter attacking.
I think (and this is just my take anyway) the challenge is that he hasn’t quite defined his best position yet. And where he’s caught the eye mostly, has been as a ‘10’, the season before Mbappe arrived (I think?) when he played behind Joselu. He’s not quite reached those levels again, IMO, but he’s also played deeper (again, this is based off the very little I’ve watched Madrid). But yeah, talent/ability shouldn’t be in doubt. Long term he probably ends up as a CM or what do you think?You know what people are like these days - one little dip in form and everyone loses their heads. But with him, the quality’s obvious. He’s a top player who gets into pretty much any team in Europe. Even in the loss to Bayern the other day, you could see exactly what Real have been missing.
Is his passing as good as Bruno's? I feel like you'd be missing that if you replaced Bruno with Bellingham and you'd probably need to have 2 CMs behind him with good passing to make up for it.He would be the ideal Bruno replacement when the time comes if a deal was possible (not saying it would be) I would think playing him in CM would just be another repeat of the Pogba situation
Is his passing as good as Bruno's? I feel like you'd be missing that if you replaced Bruno with Bellingham and you'd probably need to have 2 CMs behind him with good passing to make up for it.
I think (and this is just my take anyway) the challenge is that he hasn’t quite defined his best position yet. And where he’s caught the eye mostly, has been as a ‘10’, the season before Mbappe arrived (I think?) when he played behind Joselu. He’s not quite reached those levels again, IMO, but he’s also played deeper (again, this is based off the very little I’ve watched Madrid). But yeah, talent/ability shouldn’t be in doubt. Long term he probably ends up as a CM or what do you think?
Is his passing as good as Bruno's? I feel like you'd be missing that if you replaced Bruno with Bellingham and you'd probably need to have 2 CMs behind him with good passing to make up for it.
Thing with those DLP’s are that they’re so scarce/rare these days - well the really, really good ones anyway. But I agree with your assessment. He’s sort of the player EtH should have targeted when he tried his Kamikaze tactics of one DM plus Mount and Bruno. Instead of Mount, someone like Bellinghams skillset would have been much more balanced in that type midfield setup.Yeah I get what you’re saying about him not really having a fixed position. The thing with players like Bellingham is that they’re so complete they can do a bit of everything, which almost ends up being a problem. It was the same with Rooney and Gerrard - so good all-round that managers kept moving them about.
Now, I do think he’s at his most dangerous as a 10 - making those late runs, getting in behind, nicking goals. But at Blues and Dortmund, he played a lot more as a proper box-to-box 8, and it suited him. He can carry the ball, drive through midfield, defend, attack - basically do everything. For me, at both Madrid and England, I'd like to see him used similar to Pogba at Juventus where he had Pirlo as a 6, with Vidal/Marchisio as the box to box engine.
Honestly, I don’t think Bellingham’s the issue. For me, Real Madrid just really miss a Toni Kroos type. Someone who can slow it down, control the tempo, keep things ticking. Every time I’ve watched them this season it’s been proper end-to-end, almost like basketball. They need control in midfield, and so it's no surprise that they've been heavily linked with players like Rodri and Stiller.
Bellingham - Box to box
Deeplying Playmaker
First challenge is to get Elliot Anderson. United should be signing the best young British talent, or best British talent who are ready to step up. Just like we did with Rio, Rooney, Cole, etc.Our first goal as a club should be to get back to the level where we can realistically have a chance of getting a player like Bellingham.
Watching the football Tues and Wednesday night was a stark reminder that we could have signed a bunch of these players if we weren't such a disaster over the last 12 years.
First challenge is to get Elliot Anderson. United should be signing the best young British talent, or best British talent who are ready to step up. Just like we did with Rio, Rooney, Cole, etc.
Picking the right ones is key. In an alternative universe somewhere we paid that 50 million to Newcastle for Longstaff and never signed Bruno Fernandes.First challenge is to get Elliot Anderson. United should be signing the best young British talent, or best British talent who are ready to step up. Just like we did with Rio, Rooney, Cole, etc.
That's pointless given his role has been changed and he's also had disruptive injuries that he's taken a while to recover from.He's not that great anymore heh
2023–24
2024–25
- Matches played: 28
- Goals: 19
- Assists: 6
2025–26
- Matches played: 31
- Goals: 9
- Assists: 7
At some point people said he was gonna match Ronaldo's number.
- Matches played: 24
- Goals: 4
- Assists: 4
He's not that great anymore heh
2023–24
2024–25
- Matches played: 28
- Goals: 19
- Assists: 6
2025–26
- Matches played: 31
- Goals: 9
- Assists: 7
At some point people said he was gonna match Ronaldo's number.
- Matches played: 24
- Goals: 4
- Assists: 4
No need to make things up to highlight his outlier season.He's not that great anymore heh
2023–24
2024–25
- Matches played: 28
- Goals: 19
- Assists: 6
2025–26
- Matches played: 31
- Goals: 9
- Assists: 7
At some point people said he was gonna match Ronaldo's number.
- Matches played: 24
- Goals: 4
- Assists: 4
He’s been moved around on the pitch to accommodate changes of personnel.That's pointless given his role has been changed and he's also had disruptive injuries that he's taken a while to recover from.
Just the era gone by, he’d have been amazing as the ACM in a proper 4-3-3 - the attack-minded one who can get back and help out before breaking forward for goalscoring opportunities, ala Lampard.I don't think find him a particularly great CM but he's really good when played further ahead and at crashing the box. Him and Vini Jr can co-exist and work well together. The problem is when both of them and Mbappe are fit. Mbappe and Vini just don't play well together, let alone without adding Jude to the mix.
If Real moved him on, I think he’d have a number of top clubs after him, including us. Might even be looked at as Bruno’s successor.He’s been moved around on the pitch to accommodate changes of personnel.
He has the odd game when he’s kind of meh but as someone said above, he puts up numbers when he’s played up front, or you can find him getting stuck when he plays further back.
I would love him at United if not for the fact that he’d cost too much in wages and would come with a bit of media circus unfortunately
It was definitely a big mistake and honestly one that they probably should have seen coming.Just the era gone by, he’d have been amazing as the ACM in a proper 4-3-3 - the attack-minded one who can get back and help out before breaking forward for goalscoring opportunities, ala Lampard.
Real messed with a winning formula and unsettled their two form attackers to stuff Mbappe into the team. Net, it’s cost them dearly, even if Mbappe’s scored a lot. There’s no balance now and far too many moments of one player stepping on another’s toes because they want to occupy the same space.
Yeah think he'd be a near perfect Bruno replacement but expect him to be at Madrid for some time.If Real moved him on, I think he’d have a number of top clubs after him, including us. Might even be looked at as Bruno’s successor.
I haven't watched Real this year. Has he been good?
Disregarding the cost and wages, where would he even play? We have the best number 10 in world football playing in his positionI wonder if there's a chance here.. with Madrid looking for a new midfielder apparently - given 120m quotes on Anderson?
Disregarding the cost and wages, where would he even play? We have the best number 10 in world football playing in his position
I wonder if there's a chance here.. with Madrid looking for a new midfielder apparently - given 120m quotes on Anderson?
Really surprised that he's now only seen as a CAM, dont think those were his main positions for Birmingham nor Dortmund. He rose to fame playing as a CM, that debut season at Real has really changed people's perception of him.Agreed, but in Jude’s case I believe he’s versatile enough to play alongside Mainoo in CM. Plus when Bruno’s inevitable dropoff occurs in a couple of years, we’ve got a fantastic replacement.
He makes any team better, really
