Jude Bellingham called up to senior England at 17 years old

[sgncfc 1,223]

I appreciate that Bellingham is very highly rated, but deciding to go to Dortmund and not face the intensity of the Premier League was justified by him and his family/agent because he thought he would develop better there. I'm not sure how he can suddenly fit into an England team when he has never even met his teammates, let alone played against or with them. Sancho has already shown how difficult it is to adapt, as have others before him.

I confess that if I was an English premier league player performing well week in, week out (like Grealish, Maddison, even Barkley) and not getting picked so that the management could look at a 17 year old who has rejected our top league, I would be pretty unimpressed.

It also does Bellingham no favours, just as it did Walcott no favours, to be put under such pressure. I really think that sometimes the people who are at the top of football just completely lose their marbles.

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

Southgate seems to think he's still in charge of England U21's.

Giving youth a chance is always considered a good move but there's always the threat if overdoing it.

As a spectator it's possible to get a bit bewildered. They come thick and fast to the extent that keeping up can be difficult.

A somewhat similar confusion to that experienced when viewing NCFC's youth/loans contingent, I suppose, and I'm not complaining about that. You do lose track though. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by BroadstairsR

[Capt. Pants 4,202]

Seems a very odd situation to me. Southgate shouldn't really be thinking beyond the Euros or Qatar 2022 at best. His job is to win those tournaments and leave youth development to others, including their clubs.

He should have a nucleus of no more than 30 ish players getting as much game time as reasonably possible.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

The more I think about it, the more stupid I think this is. We’ve not just come out of a dismal cup campaign and need to refresh the squad and bed in some talent for the years ahead - we have the Euro’s next year and plenty of talent in all areas ready to win it, or at least do very well! Maddison should be playing these friendlies, not Jude Bellingham who has done nothing except become the most overrated player of the modern day - he doesn’t need to prove his quality to anyone but a blind man, so why not get the likes of Madders and a few other players that are further down the road in their development ready for the tournament - gel a solid talented squad together. Southgate isn’t doing a good job anymore is my feeling, time for him to hang up the waistcoat.

Utter madness.

[paul moy 235]

21 hours ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

If Southgate can't find a way to accommodate Grealish or Maddison in his XI then he needs to go.

We talk about the 'lost generation' when we had probably the best group of midfielders in the world but stuck with managers who couldn't fit them in a system which worked, but then we don't learn our lesson when Southgate can't find a way to use a midfield playmaker.

I would say however that with Maddison being mostly on the bench for Leicester and Grealish in good form, that it would definitely be Grealish over Maddison on merit right now. 

Agree with the Southgate criticism but you are not fair on Maddison as he had an operation in the summer that has meant he has had a long journey back to fitness which has meant that his manager has been very careful when to play him. This cautious approach means that there have been no injury setbacks and Maddison is now back to playing a full role in Leicester's current good run.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,219]

It’s a transition methodology as practised in education settings, special needs environments, psychological exposure technique et al.

Perfectly sensible when appropriate opportunities arise. 

Parma 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Parma Ham's gone mouldy

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

22 hours ago, sgncfc said:

I appreciate that Bellingham is very highly rated, but deciding to go to Dortmund and not face the intensity of the Premier League was justified by him and his family/agent because he thought he would develop better there. I'm not sure how he can suddenly fit into an England team when he has never even met his teammates, let alone played against or with them. Sancho has already shown how difficult it is to adapt, as have others before him.

I confess that if I was an English premier league player performing well week in, week out (like Grealish, Maddison, even Barkley) and not getting picked so that the management could look at a 17 year old who has rejected our top league, I would be pretty unimpressed.

It also does Bellingham no favours, just as it did Walcott no favours, to be put under such pressure. I really think that sometimes the people who are at the top of football just completely lose their marbles.

He won’t be playing against his teammates but with them. If he is good enough he is old enough. See Owen, Rooney and a host of others who excelled as teenagers at the top level. 

[Clint 221]

Isn’t that the point though Midlands, is he good enough? He’s played a handful of top flight matches in an inferior league for one of the best teams. I don’t see how Southgate could have possibly established that he is good enough at this stage.

Rooney and Owen were playing against superior opposition for a prolonged period of time before receiving a call up. I think for both it was towards the end of their first full top flight season. Rooney was one of the stand out players in a pretty average Everton team and Owen was dislodging Fowler at Liverpool as their main striking option. Both looked to be exceptional talents at a young age but equally, they still had to prove it to get a call up.

I honestly don’t see how what Bellingham has done so far even remotely compares to this.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Clint

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

26 minutes ago, Clint said:

Isn’t that the point though Midlands, is he good enough? He’s played a handful of top flight matches in an inferior league for one of the best teams. I don’t see how Southgate could have possibly established that he is good enough at this stage.

Rooney and Owen were playing against superior opposition for a prolonged period of time before receiving a call up. I think for both it was towards the end of their first full top flight season. Rooney was one of the stand out players in a pretty average Everton team and Owen was dislodging Fowler at Liverpool as their main striking option. Both looked to be exceptional talents at a young age but equally, they still had to prove it to get a call up.

I honestly don’t see how what Bellingham has done so far even remotely compares to this.

Inferior league maybe but not by much. Bellingham has obviously been monitored for some time now so must be showing something special. How many young teenagers move to a club like Dortmund for £30m without being a class above the rest? 

It’s going to be interesting to find out if he has the attributes to succeed at international level. I’m not a fan of Southgate but it’s a very brave call up if he plays him. 
 

[sgncfc 1,223]

14 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

If he is good enough he is old enough

Ah, that old chestnut. So not true and so many examples of too young sports men and women being put in adult environments too early - read John Bostock's story on the BBC website, or virtually any teenage gymnast's story from as recently as last year. Not only relating to sport either - look at how many child actors struggle with life.

When you get rewards too early, especially these kinds of ultimate rewards, it can be extremely harmful. There is a reason that the age of majority is 18.