NEW YORK, June 13 — England midfielder Jude Bellingham has admitted that even though England got to the final of the 2024 European Championship, things were not right off the pitch in former coach Gareth Southgate’s last tournament in charge.
Bellingham is not certain to start against Croatia for England on June 17th, but his display in Wednesday’s warm-up game against Costa Rica could have played him into the team. The Real Madrid midfielder’s main rival is Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, but speaking to the Lions’ Den, Bellingham said the pair have a close relationship after playing together as juniors. “He (Rogers) is a top guy, he can get along with anyone, can have conversations with anyone. He can be a bit loud. We have debates that turn into arguments a lot. But we get on like brothers, to be fair,” he explained. Bellingham feels his versatility will give him more chances of playing even if Rogers is in the side. “The manager (Thomas Tuchel) has made it very clear in a lot of the times where he has spoken that we are playing for the same position. I know that has eased up a bit more now that he sees me playing more positions and Morgs (Rogers) playing more positions, but I honestly have no ill feelings when he is playing and I’m not playing,” insisted Bellingham.
Although Bellingham says relations are good now, apparently it wasn’t the case in Germany two years ago, when England reached the final despite playing poorly most of the time. “At the Euros I think we got a few things wrong off the pitch, I don’t feel the group connected as well as it could have for a number of reasons.” “We were seen as one of two or three teams that could win it, but we weren’t playing well, which doesn’t help, so even when we were winning, we didn’t get the feeling that we were as happy as we should be.” “I still remember how I was feeling at the time. It always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable because it was such a bad situation,” he admitted.
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