In the city of “Hey Jude”, Bellingham failed to take a sad song and make it better for Real Madrid. Real fans draped club scarves around the statues of the four Beatles by the Mersey but didn’t even get that close to Liverpool icons at Anfield. Bellingham tried hard.
Real Madrid’s towering attacking midfielder is one of the most gifted footballers that English football has produced in the last 30 years. He’s tall and powerful, strong technically and mentally, yet he divides opinion. Any fair assessment of Bellingham’s performance would acknowledge his mistakes that led to Liverpool’s goal but balance that by reflecting that he created Real’s best chance and how hard he worked for the team, in and out of possession.
Often with coverage of Bellingham, you can’t see the truth for the taunts. Online critics were scathing about his contribution against Liverpool, flinging all manner of unflattering takes from “over-hyped” to “massively over-rated” that swamped more measured appraisals such as “covered most ground for Madrid. Can’t do it on his own.”
Social media verdicts are often shaped by tribalism, and the youthful symbol of Real’s ambition falls victim to this. Some Barcelona fans were apoplectic at Bellingham’s inclusion ahead of their beloved Pedri and Raphinha in the FIFPRO Men’s World XI announced on Monday. The all-star team was voted by 20,000 professionals from 68 countries, “those who compete at the highest level and know best who truly excelled,” according to FIFPRO, the global players’ union which represents them.
Even long-term admirers saw little truly exceptional in Bellingham’s work from Jul. 15, 2024, the day after he was in the European Championship final, to Aug. 3, 2025, beyond his contribution to England regaining their elite Nations League status (which brought him the England fans’ vote as their Player of the Year) and a prolific December for Real.
Bellingham’s Status Often Muddied by Unwarranted Criticism
Bellingham has enjoyed more productive years. Maybe the FIFPRO jurors felt he had a good Club World Cup. A fairer reflection of his year came in the Ballon d’Or when he finished 23rd.
It is often difficult to gain a clear picture of the level of Bellingham’s performance because of the heat he generates. He’s one of England’s few world-class talents and yet the country is divided over whether he should be in the squad that Thomas Tuchel announces at Wembley on Friday, let alone in the team to face Serbia and Albania in forthcoming World Cup qualifiers. There is even a debate, mad as it sounds, over whether Bellingham should actually be picked for the World Cup next summer. It’s hard to imagine France leaving Kylian Mbappé behind, or Spain heading across the Atlantic without Lamine Yamal. But that’s where we are with England at the moment. It’s crazy.
Tuchel complicates the debate. Tuchel and the mother of all reactions. Frau Tuchel told her son she’s not a fan of Bellingham’s attitude towards referees, a valid assessment but whipped up into a frenzy of headlines against the player because of Tuchel’s clumsy translation. Those of us who cover England had a lengthy, not altogether conclusive exchange with the German about what he—or his mother—meant by “repulsive.” Tuchel, who frequently emphasizes that Bellingham is “special,” explained that no offence was meant, he rang the player to clarify, yet then omitted him from the squad.
The message from Tuchel was that some England team-mates felt inhibited by Bellingham’s powerful personality. To which those of us who have long been chronicling England’s chronic failure to win a tournament argued that the team need somebody of Bellingham’s demanding nature and stellar standards. He’s stroppy at times, he’s just 22, he’s maturing. The meek may inherit the earth but they tend not to win World Cups.
No England player can rival Bellingham’s record of titles in Germany and Spain and a Champions League medal. He played an important part in all of those achievements. That often gets overlooked. Throw in criticism of Bellingham’s father, Mark, a former police officer and prolific non-League striker who is very protective of his sons (Jude’s brother Jobe plays for Borussia Dortmund), and the clouds turn even stormier.
Breaking Casillas’ Champions League Record Speaks Volumes
It’s not my call, I think you know whose call it is. I would love to be but it’s not my call. I’ll be waiting to see.Bellingham on England call-up chances.
Dispersing the clouds is not a simple task. But anyone prepared to step back and look dispassionately at Bellingham’s influence can see his ability. Allegations that a big-name player is not a big-game player are laughable. He's just scored winners against Juventus and Barcelona. Big games, big goals. He rescued England from early oblivion at Euro 2024 with his late goal against Slovakia in the round of 16.
At 22 years and 128 days, Bellingham became the youngest player to reach 50 appearances in the Champions League when he stepped on to the field at Anfield. He took the record off the great Iker Casillas, such a formidable presence in Real’s goal between 1999 and 2015.
On joining Real, Bellingham took the No. 5 shirt associated with Casillas’ legendary team-mate, Zinedine Zidane. That showed the young Englishman’s fearlessness, ambition and also his respect for Real’s illustrious history. It also demonstrated Real’s belief in him that they allowed such inevitable, and currently premature, comparisons.
Bellingham gets barbs because of his friendship with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is loathed by many Liverpool fans because of the clearly planned manner he exited Anfield for Real. Hell hath no fury like a fan spurned. Those of us following events on television had to be impressed by the way Bellingham went on Amazon Prime afterwards and handled the question about the Kop booing Alexander-Arnold diplomatically. “They were just doing their job as fans to try distract him and get in his head,” Bellingham said. Good answer: he stood up for his friend and didn’t add to tensions.
Bellingham’s club do stir envy and enmity in many quarters because of their power, their history and because of some of the histrionics of players like Vinicius Junior, whose amateur dramatics were embarrassing at times at Anfield. Yet any assessment of Bellingham unclouded by tribalism has to acknowledge the work he put in covering for Vinicius on the left.
He grafted hard out of possession. Such reality should be central to the debate about whether he returns to the England squad and, more importantly for the team’s chances at the World Cup, to the starting XI. Those propagating a negative perspective of Bellingham argue that he’s not a team player. But 90 draining minutes against Liverpool showed that Bellingham is committed to the collective. None of Real’s outfield players put in a more selfless shift.
💬 @BellinghamJude: "We'll focus on the positives, learn from the negatives and keep moving forward." pic.twitter.com/eMWq9uyZcw
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 4, 2025
Evidence was there throughout. Critics must have been blind to the sight of those match moments where Bellingham, given a demanding role of No. 10 with defensive duties, was back harrying Hugo Ekitiké, dispossessing Ibrahima Konaté and then closing down Mohamed Salah.
Bellingham was having to chase back, which he did willingly, but it meant that he was stretching into challenges from behind to try to reclaim the ball from Liverpool attackers. When he fouled Ryan Gravenberch on the hour, he was booked, and compounded his mistake by playing Alexis Mac Allister onside as the Argentinian met Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick to win the game.
Even against a relentless Liverpool press that bordered at times on strangulation, Bellingham still fashioned Real’s best chance. Just before the break, he feinted to go inside Konaté on to his right foot, went outside and shot low with his left. Giorgi Mamardashvili saved at his near-post.
So on a poor night for Real, when nobody lived up to reputation, beyond the outstanding Thibaut Courtois in goal, only Bellingham of the outfield players can reflect with any pride on their contribution. But it didn’t make a sad song any better.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jude Bellingham Cuts Through the Noise to Prove Point at Anfield.
