Collymore’s column: Bellingham right to be cocky, tiredness wrecking the Euros, Archie Gray’s great move and more

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why Jude Bellingham is right to be cocky, why tiredness is wrecking the Euros, why Archie Gray to Spurs is a great move and much more.

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Jude Bellingham is right to be cocky but it’s not all about him

Jude Bellingham’s still a baby and people will say he’s done very little in his career. He’s not, as the kids say, ‘the man’ yet.

But if you’re La Liga Player of the Year, you’ve won the Champions League and you’ve been a key part of that then, of course, you’re going to have cockiness and sureness in your own ability.

He’s not got a final body of work, but I love the attitude he displays. I think one of the big, big things about English football, when it comes to English players, is we’ve never celebrated players with talent until long after they’ve retired.

In Jude’s case, I think that it is both true that I want him to be cocky and confident and to have ultimate self belief, but I also want him to be a fully functioning member and part of the team. To remember that his success cannot come without the success of others.

Jude Bellingham

There’s been a couple of times when he’s gone over to Gareth Southgate and taken instructions then gesticulated a little bit, but again, I think that he’s young and still learning. He probably watches, or has watched, lots of big name players take centre stage, not just with their performances but how they interact with the bench.

The media are saying how good he’s been since 16 years of age, so he’s probably thinking ‘how can I now play the part on and off the pitch?’

If he gets punished because of his crotch-grabbing antics it would be incredibly negative, and the reaction to him would be interesting. Let’s not forget Wayne Rooney and David Beckham have had the naughty little boy tabloid treatment, so he needs to be careful.

Maybe Kyle Walker or another senior pro just pulls him aside and says ‘I’ve worked with these big, big dogs. I’ve won everything there is to win with these big dogs. And in the case of a De Bruyne, you couldn’t…

Source link : https://www.caughtoffside.com/2024/07/04/collymores-column-bellingham-right-to-be-cocky-tiredness-wrecking-the-euros-archie-grays-great-move-and-more/

Author : Stan Collymore

Publish date : 2024-07-04 11:44:27

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