Bellingham sideswiped as England thrive without 'intimidatory ego'

Jude Bellingham has not kicked a ball since early July but the best and biggest England win of the Thomas Tuchel era must be about his ‘intimidatory ego’.

You would think it would be all positive after England finally delivered a statement performance in Serbia.

But the Bellingham cloud looms large – although it was something else that ‘overshadowed’ this win.

Blow my whistle, baby

England were really impressive in dispatching Serbia on Tuesday evening. It was a phenomenally efficient performance and excellent result, the best of Thomas Tuchel’s reign by far.

But it was sadly ‘overshadowed’ if we listen to a very shouty Sun website. Which we know we shouldn’t but Mediawatch is duty-bound here.

They scream that ‘ENGLAND stars were targeted with a LASER PEN’, that the ‘INCIDENT’ happened shortly before half-time and ‘the game was also overshadowed by a phantom WHISTLE’.

It’s pretty much all anyone could talk about. In fact, it’s difficult to actually remember what the scoreline was at all or whether England were even any good as the whole game was ‘overshadowed’ by someone blowing a WHISTLE for a bit before giving up when they realised it wasn’t really having the desired effect.

It’s the Hope that kills you

The general theme in the coverage is that this was about as good as Tuchel and England could have hoped from 90 potentially troublesome minutes in Belgrade. But also that it offers no further indication of whether they are actually equipped to win the World Cup because really no game is going to offer reliable evidence either way until the tournament itself.

And that is absolutely fine. There is no need whatsoever for hot takes to be delivered after every single game.

But there is a desire from Craig Hope and the Daily Mail to score points and spend this entire international break dunking on a player who hasn’t kicked a ball for club or country in over two months.

Jude Bellingham remains ‘the elephant in the room’ only because Hope and the Mail keep hunting him. Because even a 5-0 win away in Serbia must be given a negative slant by leading on ‘the rising star who staked his claim to steal Jude Bellingham’s place in the team’.

Comparing and contrasting Bellingham with Morgan Rogers is completely understandable and even necessary, but this is just plain weird and agenda-driven:

‘The Aston Villa playmaker, like Bellingham, has a swagger about him and can produce those moments of inspiration to break stubborn opposition. Minus the intimidatory ego of Bellingham, could he be a better bet in the No 10 role going forward? Let’s see, but this was very encouraging.’

The ‘intimidatory ego’ line says far more about Hope than it does Bellingham. It’s painfully revealing, in fact. An ‘uncomfortable truth’, you might say.

Quite when that ‘swagger’ morphs into something more apparently problematic is unknown. It’ll probably be the second Rogers starts avoiding giving interviews with increasingly strange journalists.

Jules Rimet, still screaming

Two quick points, prompted by this Daily Mirror headline…

‘FIVE STAR THREE LIONS! England player ratings vs Serbia as four 8/10 stars shine in dominant victory as Tuchel’s men put one foot in the World Cup’

1) Can you put your foot ‘in the World Cup’?

2) Why would you want to?

MORE ENGLAND COVERAGE FROM F365

👉 England arrive under Tuchel but will return from World Cup ‘with their tails between their legs’

👉 Kane overtakes two legends but might never top 37-man England club because of Beckham brilliance

You’ve been warned

Erling Haaland scored five goals in a Norway thrashing of Moldova, but his continued ridiculousness alone is not quite worthy of headline status.

Chuck in a cursory mention of one team and boom, problem sorted:

‘Erling Haaland scores five ahead of Man Utd clash as Norway win 11-1’ – Daily Express website.

Entirely factual. Fair play.

‘Erling Haaland warms up for Man Utd with FIVE-GOAL haul days after freak injury as Norway thrash Moldova 11-1’ – The Sun website.

A bit of creativity with the Caps Lock and some ‘days after’ fun, but still fine.

‘Erling Haaland sends ominous message to Man Utd ahead of Manchester derby’ – Daily Mirror website.

‘Man United sent ominous warning as Erling Haaland goes berserk on international duty’ – talkSPORT.

The ‘ominous warning’ is indeed restricted to Erling Braut Haaland scoring some goals, rather than him actually saying anything.

And then a personal favourite for Mediawatch:

‘Are you watching, Ruben Amorim? Erling Haaland scores FIVE in Norway’s 11-1 thrashing of Moldova – just days before Man City’s clash with Man United’ – MailOnline.

Was Ruben Amorim watching? Probably not. But that is a stunning ‘just days before’.

Did Manchester United really need a reminder that current Premier League Golden Boot leader Haaland is quite good? Did Leny Yoro send an ominous warning back by helping France U21s keep a clean sheet against Serbia?

Kalvin decline

Mind you, Manchester City need all the good news they can get going by this Daily Mirror website update:

’13 players could miss Man City vs Man Utd after new injury scare on international duty’

Mediawatch won’t go through all 13 players; it hardly seems necessary when Kalvin Phillips is counted among that number.

Txiki sods

There is better news for those of an Etihad persuasion, though.

‘Manchester City set to welcome back chief key to Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola arrivals’

That’s huge, especially considering their recent transfer struggles.

‘Txiki Begiristain will return to Manchester City for the first time since leaving as director football at this weekend’s derby.

‘The former Spain international spent 13 years overseeing unprecedented success at the Etihad Stadium and was a crucial component to the appointment of Pep Guardiola, as well as a raft of successful signings.

‘Begiristain is a guest of the club for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United and will have an open-ended invite to attend matches.’

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