The great frustration of this England team at its worst is not the absence of individual players in the squad, however much that perennially dominates the public’s angry psyche, but the sense of metaphorical – and often literal – space between its component parts. Watching the first half against Germany, and almost the entire match against Italy, was to witness a team pondering as it played.
In the best club teams, moves appear as a natural process, as if each player is governed by one hivemind. England, more often than not over the last 12 months, have been a group of single units who at best collect in twos and threes but rarely sixes and sevens. Unless you’re talking about the defending.
When the emergency of the situation – a restless crowd on the verge of another mutiny, another match extending out of reach, another shot at redemption being wasted – demanded it, Gareth Southgate’s England did click into life. They played at a tempo and, temporarily at least with a joie de vivre that we know they are capable of. Now the battle is for Southgate to persuade them that this can be their identity by default.
Jude Bellingham was the leader of that movement. The game switched when he did. Bellingham had eight touches of the ball in Germany’s half in the first half and 28 in the second. Over the first 50 minutes, he failed to have a single touch in the opposition penalty area.
By the final whistle, when supporters left Wembley and one giddy gentleman said to his son “It was your first game and it won’t get better than that” (parenting tip from a non-parent: always dampen their expectations), Bellingham had six touches in the box and won a penalty.
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Inside Newcastle's plans to keep Eddie Howe out of England's clutches27 September, 2022Part of this comes down to circumstance. Defenders defend (sometimes), Declan Rice tries to protect them (always), the attacking midfielders rely upon that security and Harry Kane, England’s omniscient great hope, relies upon them in turn. Bellingham is the antidote, his role demanding that he glides forward and interchanges play.
At his best, the insouciance of age whirring with the overwhelming force of his ability becomes simultaneously intangible but as powerful as a punch to the face. He becomes not a member of the team, but its lifeblood.
We must beware the uncongenial suffocation of hype. Bellingham is England’s youngest ever major tournament player and will likely become the youngest player in our history to start the first match of a World Cup. Development is never linear. He will make mistakes and, if one of those mistakes costs England at a major tournament, he will be criticised as every other player over the last 30 years has been.
But Bellingham is also a freak: over a hundred league appearances and 16 Champions League starts in central midfield for an aspirationally elite club shortly after his 19th birthday. He has repeatedly proven that he is capable of handling pressure. He has repeatedly insisted that he is ready to carry the responsibility of his nation’s national team on his shoulders. And he has done plenty enough to suggest that we should let him.
Paradoxically, given Bellingham’s game-changing role on Monday evening, his greatest attribute to Southgate may be defensively. To replace Kalvin Phillips in this England team, and to help Rice with his Sisyphean task of protecting the defence, you cannot simply be a “baller”.
This season in the Bundesliga, Bellingham has successfully completed 16 tackles. In 2020-21 and 2021-22 combined, he managed 77 and is currently on course to beat that combined total this season. Picking Bellingham as a creator, a facilitator or a fire-starter comes with inherent risk. Picking this Bellingham clearly is not.
There are probably better plates in this team, although the gap is closing with each step forward. There might well be individually more important players: Rice protecting, Kane scoring, Sterling stretching the play. But all of those in part rely upon the work of others. At his best, Bellingham feels like a glorious team of one.
Successful tournament squads need Jude Bellinghams. Think of Michael Owen in 1998 and Wayne Rooney in 2004, ultimately let down by themselves or those around them. World Cups are about results; Southgate knows that more than anyone and more than ever. But on a fundamental level, they are about dreams and inescapable opportunities, and prolonging both for as long as possible.
Nobody epitomises that more than a 19-year-old who is ready, willing and able to change the game and change the mood too. The standing ovation he received on Monday wasn’t just about him being England’s best player, but because of his limitless potential and what he represents: the power of dreams.
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