July 2nd 2024.
Former England striker Alan Shearer has expressed his frustration with the calls for Jude Bellingham to be dropped from the England squad. This came after ex-footballer Didi Hamann suggested that England's manager Gareth Southgate should take drastic action and remove Bellingham from the team for Euro 2024. Bellingham, who plays for Real Madrid, saved England's hopes in the Euros with a fantastic overhead kick against Slovakia. This was followed by a winning goal in extra time by captain Harry Kane, propelling the Three Lions into the quarter-finals.
Despite his impressive goal and scoring in England's first game against Serbia, Bellingham's performance has been inconsistent during the tournament. Some pundits have suggested that he should be replaced for the knockout stages, with Hamann arguing that Phil Foden should take his spot in the No. 10 position. "Unless Southgate makes a few changes to the team, I don't see much hope," Hamann stated before England's last-16 match. "He needs to make a decision. It's a choice between Foden and Bellingham, and I would go with Foden. Bellingham should be taken out, with Foden in the middle and Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon on the flanks. Southgate also needs to consider what to do with Harry Kane."
When asked about Bellingham's potential removal from the team, Shearer firmly stated that it would be ridiculous to drop him. "How could you even consider dropping him? It's absurd," he said on The Rest is Football podcast. Fellow former England striker and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker agreed, saying, "That's a definite no, isn't it?"
After England's thrilling victory in the last-16, Southgate revealed that he almost substituted Bellingham before his amazing goal. "We were considering taking him off, but we knew he was capable of moments like that," Southgate said. "With 15 minutes left, we wondered if he was exhausted. We knew we needed to improve our ball possession, and we did better in the second half. They kept pushing, and we finally broke through with a long throw-in. Moments like that can happen when you keep pressuring a team."
England's quarter-final opponents in Euro 2024 will be Switzerland, who defeated defending champions Italy in their previous game after finishing second in Group B behind hosts Germany. Despite Bellingham's heroics, there are still fans who believe he should be dropped due to his below-par performance during the tournament. Bellingham himself admitted that he felt "completely exhausted" towards the end of the group stage.
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