Euro 2024: England boss Southgate excited by Bellingham rise but says collective is key
- The 20-year-old star midfielder enjoyed a dream debut season with Real Madrid, but Southgate says ‘we are not putting everything on Jude’
Gareth Southgate said he is excited to be welcoming world-class Jude Bellingham into the camp but the England boss knows success at this summer’s Euros will need to be a collective effort.
The 20-year-old has been basking in the afterglow of a dream first season in Spain, where he won La Liga with Real Madrid and was named the competition’s best player.
Bellingham won the Bundesliga player of the year award last term and overcame former club Borussia Dortmund two weekends ago as Madrid won a 15th Uefa Champions League title.
The midfielder has enjoyed some time off since that Wembley triumph, which meant he missed all of England’s pre-Euros training camp and both warm-up friendlies.
Bellingham linked up with the squad on Sunday and is expected to start in the Group C opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, but Southgate said he knows it is about more than just his stardust.
“I’m sure he is [capable of handling the pressure] but we are not putting everything on Jude,” the England boss said.
“We’ve got a lot of good players and it is a collective thing to go and try to win this tournament. If we are relying on one person that isn’t going to be a team that wins.
“He is, of course, a player with fabulous mentality and will have a big impact on the whole group but the biggest thing over the past couple of games, we’ve never had the collective together on the pitch at the same time.”
England beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in Bellingham’s absence on Monday, only to suffer a shock 1-0 loss to Iceland on Friday as the Wembley crowd let their frustrations known.
It was a difficult night that came hot on the heels of an emotional build-up after Southgate confirmed the seven players cut from the 33-man training group on Thursday.
Southgate has plenty to mull over before facing Serbia, but repeated that the formation is unlikely to be among his considerations.
Having used a back five at the 2018 World Cup and at times en route to the Euro 2020 final, he is planning to stick to a four-man defence in Germany despite absentees and recent wobbles.
“It’s not something we have talked about,” Southgate said. “It’s not a route we have been looking to go for sure.
“Availability of players changes what you may do and what profile of player you may play in certain positions.
“But we have been on a good path without the ball against top level opponents in Belgium and Brazil [in March]. We didn’t get that right [against Iceland].”
