Southgate wants ‘urgent talks’ with ‘frustrated’ England star as Rooney demands two changes
England manager Gareth Southgate reportedly wants ‘urgent talks’ with Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham after he struggled in the Euro 2024 group stages.
Bellingham is coming off a remarkable debut season at Real Madrid as he helped the Spanish giants win the Champions League and La Liga.
The 20-year-old’s best position is arguably as a No.8, but Real Madrid’s lack of options in attacking areas forced manager Carlo Ancelotti to use the Englishman higher up the field as a No.10/false nine. He made light work of this transition as he grabbed 23 goals and 13 assists in his 42 appearances across all competitions.
This has tempted England boss Southgate to use Bellingham as a No.10 at the start of Euro 2024, but he has struggled and would perhaps from being moved back to play alongside Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
It remains to be seen whether Southgate will change Bellingham’s role in the Euro 2024 knockout stages. England will face Slovakia in the round of 16 on Sunday evening.
A report from The Sun claims ‘Southgate is plotting urgent talks with Bellingham to reignite his Euros form’.
When asked whether he plans to hold talks with Bellingham regarding his recent performances, Southgate said: “I will have those messages with him rather than plaster them over the papers.”
England and Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney thinks Bellingham has “looked very frustrated” but he needs to “front up” in the remaining games.
“He has looked very frustrated. I’ve been there in exactly the position. In the game against Slovenia, I saw him throwing his arms up,” Rooney said.
“Jude started the first game well but I’m sure he’d tell you himself he hasn’t had the best last two games.”
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He added: “As a talisman for England and now Real Madrid, I haven’t heard him speak. So what is the reason for that?
“As one of the iconic players for England, he should be fronting that.
“We saw Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon speaking, who are playing bit parts in the tournament.
“People want Jude and Harry Kane, Kyle Walker and Jordan Pickford — the senior players. I know Jude’s not, but he’s going to play if fit and you want to hear him speaking. That tells me he’s probably not quite right.”
Rooney has also called for Southgate to start Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon after they impressed off the bench against Slovenia on Tuesday.
“Anthony has to play on the left. Palmer, after his performance when he came on, maybe he can play,” Rooney continued.
“With Phil Foden going home, that can make Gareth’s mind up.
“Anthony comes in and it frees Bellingham up, so I think that will be the change he makes.”
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