I've always believed this. English players tend to go abroad for a couple of years then think they've served their apprenticeship to come home. Liverpool can offer Bellingham nothing. If he wants to become a true great. Real Madrid can only offer him that
I've got mixed feelings about this. I could see another gareth bale situation happening if Bellingham has a poor run of form. At Liverpool, he'll be afforded the time to recapture form and still be cheered by the faithful. Madrid is a horrible place if you're not playing well.
On Bellingham, I saw he was captain for Dortmund in the CL last week. It feels like he's already a big figure for England and I would imagine the favourite to take the armband after Kane.
One could argue that it is that which keeps players performing at such a high level though and gives them such a killer instinct. It’s a shark tank and you need to be able to swim to survive. I’m also not sure Bale is a good example as he was ultra successful at his peak there, much more than he would’ve been had he stayed in England. Furthermore, I would argue he was largely the architect of his own downfall when it eventually did turn sour. He made no effort to learn Spanish, didn’t attend several team events and seemed to just lose interest. I just fear that Liverpool are on a worrying path even with Klopp at the helm. They have a chronically aging squad, owners who don’t invest relative to their big rivals and the young players already at the club don’t really look like world beaters. All of this amongst a now fiercely competitive landscape with City, Newcastle and potentially United under state ownership and an Arsenal side who are just at the beginning of a cycle. Chelsea, despite their current travails are bound to get it right eventually as well whether that is with or without Potter.
Yeah I'm not sure how great a move Liverpool would be for Bellingham, they need a massive rebuild and under their current ownership i'm not sure they have the resources to compete beyond Klopp performing miracles again, and there's a pretty good chance he will leave within the next 18 months. Even making the CL is going to be difficult going forward under the current ownership given Newcastle and now seemingly United getting taken over by state backers. It could easily be a situation where they get locked out the champions league for a good period. Of course he can still become a world class player even playing for a less competitive side as Kane has done (although I would argue its hurt Kane as a big game player). Real Madrid is a good home if you can cope with the pressure and have the motivation - look at Modric and Benzema, previously Ramos and Ronaldo starring their well into their 30's. It's more of a bear pit and anything less than winnings is unacceptable, but if Bellingham is to become the player we need him to be, he'll need to cope with that kind of pressure. I think one of our problems in the current team is a lack of proven winners - we lack people with significant trophies (ie leagues and champions leagues).
True. This summer transfer window will be very interesting. Wonder if city might go for him or united if they do a rebuild. Would be nice to see him and rice in the same club side and then replicate that partnership for England.
We have these who we've called up in the last year (I didn't bother counting Forster's Scottish titles): Walker: 4 x Premier League Stones: 4 x Premier League Sterling: 4 x Premier League Foden: 4 x Premier League Alexander-Arnold: 1 x Premier League; 1 x Champions League J. Henderson: 1 x Premier League; 1 x Champions League Mount: 1 x Champions League Chilwell: 1 x Champions League James: 1 x Champions League Abraham: 1 x Champions League Grealish: 1 x Premier League Trippier: 1 x La Liga Tomori: 1 x Serie A Can't be bothered to do it for other countries so I'm not sure if that's good or not. Could plausibly be adding Ramsdale/Saka/White/Smith Rowe and/or Phillips and/or Shaw/Maguire/Rashford/Sancho* in the next few months, albeit that some have obviously been more key to their teams than others. *Not actually called up in the past year, but it wouldn't be a shock to see him get back in.
Arsenal are linked with Declan Rice and I think want him to replace Xhaka in the left 8 role. Would be interesting to see what he could do in a top team. I think he could easily go to another level. He has all the physical attributes and his goal yesterday showed the quality he has.
Yeah I agree. I'd be a bit worried for his development if he went to arsenal though. He should be aiming for somewhere like man City or Liverpool. I feel like this arsenal team are gonna be one season wonders and flop terribly from then on.....hope I'm wrong of course.
Liverpool would be horrendous. Their midfield needs huge upgrading. He needs to go somewhere where he can fit right in alongside a proper established partner. City would be ideal but that's not going to happen. I wouldn't see him out of place at somewhere like Bayern Munich or real Madrid
Yeah bayern or real would be perfect. Arsenal is a no no for me though, he'd being taking a step backwards IMHO.
I hope he doesn't go to any top side that wants to play him as a side 8. He can possibly be among the best defensive midfielders in world football, or he can be Ramires.
I think rice is more than just a shield for the back 4. I think he's very effective going forward. He's much better On the ball than people think. Remember him beating about 4 Italian players in the final. He's a very good box to box player
No you've interpreted that wrong. I meant it would be a step backwards in his development. The next stage would need to be a team challenging for honours every season.
Arsenal are top of the league?! Liverpool are on the down, United is a possibility but what have they win except a tin pot league cup? City don’t need him, Newcastle are not ready yet anc Chelsea are a mess to be honest I don’t rate rice very highly, he’s been a decent runner for West Ham in a 2 but I’m not sold on him as a single pivot Got a feeling he ends up at Newcastle or Chelsea
I think Arsenal would be a good move for him. They will struggle to compete with the oil clubs going forward but they tend to win some trophies or compete for them through the years.
They have a young team that looks like it's going to win the Premier League. No reason to think they won't be competing for trophies moving forward.
For me he’s better a a box to box midfielder with his ability to make powerful runs. The number 6 role has changed a lot in recent years and you need to be press resistant and quick feet to receive the ball in tight situations…I think he has quality but I’m not sure he’s a Busquets type player. I honestly think if you took the reigns off him, he could be like Yaya Toure/Gerrard. Regarding Arsenal, they have the youngest team in the league and should only improve. I think it would be a great move for him, Arsenal are a functional side with a clear style of play. It’s a much better move than Chelsea who are a basket case of a club right now, or Liverpool who are in major transition.
Wasn’t sure whether to put this in here or the paucity thread but interesting development regardless. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...T-plans-make-easier-sign-foreign-players.html
Real impressive performance from Harvey Elliott in central midfield today, proved he can do it against good opposition, he's been the best midfielder on the pitch. Still not sure he'll ever fit a Klopp midfield long term given Klopp's system generally relies on athletic machines in those midfield roles but somewhere he will find a home at a high level I suspect. From an England perspective there's a lot to like in how he plays though, clearly technically very comfortable, and we don't press like maniacs so a pair of athletes next to him like Rice and Bellingham and you'd probably see his qualities even better than Liverpool see. Needs to work on his ball retention but other than that he's maybe worth trialling in the squads given a paucity of options for us there. Also easy to forget he's only 19, there's so few 19 year olds who have played regularly in central midfield in the premier, and those that do are very often physically advanced for their age. Not to compare him as the same standard but I can imagine someone like Modric would have had his struggles in the premier as a 19 year old too, Elliott will hopefully develop to compensate for his weaknesses. On the other side of the coin from todays game, I dread to think what the reaction would have been if Man U had defended like this with Maguire starting....
Maguire hasn't been great for Man utd but he was never really the problem. He was just a symptom of the problem which is Utds midfield was/is bang average and leaves the defend exposed. Its got better but if they have a bad day like today the underlying problems are still there.