You lots lie to yourselves too much and it makes me laugh but wait let me explain:
Jude Bellingham is not a number 8 or at least is not a decent player in that position. Ever wondered why he’s not played there since his arrival? not even for once? Do you know why? Let me school you :
The job of a number 8 is to help the 6 in controlling the balance and shape of the game from deep areas to attacking positions whilst supporting play in certain instances. Now let me ask you, is Jude a good controller of the team shaping? Is he good at receiving from deep areas with his back facing the goal? Is he good at orchestrating plays? Can he control the tempo of a game? The answer to all this is NO. Why? Because he’s not a number 8 and neither is he a natural 10.
However due to his natural instincts for goal and his athleticism you give him that role of running into dangerous positions where he can affect the game and also help you defensively. There’s a reason coaches online thinks he’s an 8 and for the past 4 seasons he keeps playing everywhere including a left wing but never as a number 8. He’s not intelligent enough to stick to a demanding position, he’s not skilled enough to start plays from deep areas, and even if he does most of those balls are going to turn into duels and at this level there’s little to no margin for error.
As a number 8 your job is to connect the defense and attack by receiving and passing it quickly, Jude on the other hand would have to take a few extra touches before he releases it to his teammates. Even with his teammates waiting to receive the ball he likes to hog onto it, dribble the opposing player, do whatever he wants before he sets his teammates up. By the time he finishes with whatever he does the opposition would have covered their defensive lines and the ball gets nowhere, and that becomes another burden for his 6 and his defense.
In as much as we all want to see him in a deeper position it’s also fair to say that due to the aforementioned he doesn’t have the ability to string 4-5 passes together without turning the ball into a duel, an unnecessary duel mainly because he’s not even a good passer of the ball. An elite 8 in a club of Real Madrid’s stature must be someone who is good at finding teammates whether in long passes or in pockets and short passes. And he lacks all except the obvious ones, not saying he can’t do any but that’s clearly not his strength.
As a number 8 in a club of Real Madrid’s stature your technical abilities and IQ must be very high and we don’t have to go far to know what that looks like or who such a player is. We saw Kroos controlling from deep and affecting play without taking 45 touches of the ball before releasing it to his teammates. Jude on the other hand will try unnecessary dribbles before passing whilst his teammates are in the waiting.
So yes even tho he possesses some qualities of an elite number 8 he also lacks the basic understanding and ability of an elite number 8 and that’s why even in the national team they don’t even think about him playing there. Yes in a particular situation you can put him there because he’s has some qualities, but for an entire season? NO, he will do more harm than good to the team. With a player whose natural instinct is to score he will always vacate his position to chase glory which in turn could cost his team.
Due to his poor positional awareness it’s better to give him a free role than to restrict him to a particular position, he can’t flourish and I know you know.
So yes in as much as we want Arda to be the 10 instead of Jude you would very much prefer him to play as an 8 over someone who has less idea about controlling a game. As an 8 and a 10 Arda is better than Jude, that’s what I’m saying. The only quality Jude has over Arda is his physicality and his stamina because even with the goals Arda is the one with the best shot technique in the squad after Mbappe.
So yes Jude is not an 8 and will never be🙌🏾🫡
🗣️ Marc Cucurella tras la entrada criminal a Kylian Mbappé: "Chequéalo porque lo ha ido a REVENTAR."
🗣️ Fede Valverde: "No va ni a la PELOTA."
🗣️ Díaz de Mera tras 5 segundos de revisión en el VAR: "AMARILLA CONFIRMADA."
QUÉ VERGÜENZA 🤢
This PSG team is not one of the greatest teams of all time and they have become on of the most overrated teams ever. 9 players
that started against city were benched in their last league game, we have never witnessed this kind of rubbish in football!