Real Madrid News
England coach confirms Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham suffered minor knock vs Czech Republic: ‘Had a little niggle’
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham picked up a minor knock while on England duty, with Thomas Tuchel hopeful that it will not prevent him from facing Croatia.
Bellingham came off the bench in England’s 2-0 win over Czech Republic on Tuesday, replacing Harry Kane in the 71st minute.
He took the captain’s armband for the closing stages but felt a problem towards the end of the match.
Tuchel confirmed the issue after the game, stating, “He had a little niggle at the end of the match. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he is available for Croatia,” said the England coach, as per ESPN.
The 23-year-old’s condition will therefore be watched ahead of England’s next fixture.
Tuchel sees Bellingham as a genuine No.9 option
The injury concern comes as Tuchel continues to experiment with Bellingham’s role in the England attack.
Kane remains England’s undisputed first-choice striker and scored again in the victory over Czech Republic, although with limited options behind him, Tuchel has started looking at different ways to use Bellingham closer to goal.
“You will not get another Harry Kane, first of all. We look for different solutions. We finished the game with Jude as a No 9.
“There will be someone else, but it will not be Harry or a copy of Harry. We will find a solution when it comes to it, but maybe not me. It might be another 10 years.”
Bellingham’s ability to arrive in the box has made the idea attractive to Tuchel, who believes the Real Madrid midfielder can influence the game from several attacking positions.
“I like him as a [No] 9. Then he can contribute to both sides and overloads the sides and doesn’t affect so much of the balance.
“We found a bit of a new role for him in the last match, as a central [No] 10, so he can go to both sides and it is more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3 to have Harry and Jude closer together and to give them a chance to overload both sides.
“We are working on that. Jude in general should always be able to go through the last line and be able to end up in the box.
“He is a natural goalscorer and has the hunger to be on the scoreboard. He wants to have the decisive action, so it makes no huge difference if he plays as a [No] 9 or a [No] 10,” he concluded.
Jose Mourinho is looking for solutions to Real Madrid’s problems, and the extended international break has given him time to analyse the team in depth.
Now, according to Defensa Central, one of the conclusions from his assessment concerns Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler, the players Mourinho believes should be central to the team’s football.
Although they operate in different positions, the manager wants all four to take a step forward on the pitch.
He wants them to push their lines higher and move closer to the opposition penalty area, believing this would help Real Madrid both defensively and offensively.
Mourinho wants to pin opponents inside their own box
Mourinho wants Real Madrid’s play to go through Bellingham, Valverde, Bernardo and Guler, but he has also asked them to start creating attacks much closer to the opposition area and to link up more closely with the forwards.
The idea is to make the team more compact in possession and force opponents deeper into their own half.
If Real Madrid’s midfield can build play much higher up the pitch, opponents will have to retreat. That would allow Mourinho’s side to improve their pressing, make it more effective and increase the volume of attacks.
As a result, Real Madrid should create considerably more opportunities to score.
A compact Real Madrid for 90 minutes
Mourinho wants his team to stay together and remain compact throughout the full 90 minutes, rather than doing so only in short periods.
Defensively, this would reduce the spaces available for opponents to build their attacks and could force them to play more directly, looking to exploit the space behind the defensive line.
That is an area where the pace and defensive ability of Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries, alongside Aurelien Tchouameni, can provide protection.
The same compactness could also benefit Real Madrid in attack by keeping opponents pinned back. Mourinho wants to use the quality of his players to create a greater number of dangerous situations.
Mourinho’s idea is that Real Madrid’s most talented players must push the team forward and help them put opponents under pressure much closer to the box.
