Jude.Bellingham ......
16 years, 38 days. The record of the youngest ever first-team player for Birmingham City. It’s been an eventful rookie season for Jude Bellingham.
The Stourbridge born player joined Birmingham as an U8. The apprentice always played above his age group, in 2018 aged 14 featuring for the u18s, with March 2019 being when he made his debut for the U23s. His ability was clear to everyone at the club & he was awarded a two-year scholarship, but was advanced to train with the first team.
Credit to Pep Clolet & his background staff for managing the integration of Jude. Initially getting minutes as a left-winger to get used to the intensity of the league, when the team recognised that he was getting more comfortable he was moved centrally & closer to the goal.
Heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, the club reportedly turned down a £20 million offer. Despite all the speculation he focused & acted professionally to finish the season with 44 championship appearances & winning the Young Player of the Season award.
Josep ‘Pep’ Clolet Ruiz’s management career has been a mixture of youth coaching & first-team management. He spent the first 8 years of his
career in Catalonia managing in youth setups before moving to Sweden. His experience saw him work under Michael Laudrup & Gary Monk at Swansea & Leeds. His first break as a manager came for Oxford United in 2017, before joining up with Monk again at Birmingham.
Pep Clolet’s preference is not to be in possession, instead have straight compact lines in a 4-4-2 and quick, direct breaks when possession is won.
Jude is a pure midfielder, a mould of the classic number ‘8’. A player who takes pride in both his defensive and attacking phases. He featured as a wide midfielder during the first half of the 2019/20 season. Physically adept at a young age, he covers a vast amount of ground with his locomotion beside his vigorous demeanour helps him to be a ball winner.
Throughout this campaign, Bellingham has displayed two traits that make him a stand-out to his age peers—showing ways to be progressive in possession, and his tactical knowledge on how to be effective in all areas of the pitch. 4-4-2
dribbling KEY 01 02 02 01
key player off the ball run passed ball
teammates
opposition
SCENARIO 01
Comfort in receiving the ball under high pressure
SCENARIO 02
Makes 3v2 scenarios by occupying half spaces and forming triangles with adjacent teammates
BOX-TO-BOX MIDFIELDER
As seen in the build up phase, Pep likes his sides to be as direct as possible. The centre backs split between the diameter of the penalty box & the wing-backs are slightly advanced in wide positions. The idea is to get back-to-front quickly, so whether that’s playing between lines to midfielders or a look to direct play to your attackers from a long ball.
When playing a 4-4-2, Jude’s positioning was either in the half-space or far-flung on the touchline. This created either a numerical advantage or space, depending on the opposition. In this situation, he became the link player comfortable playing with either foot; he obtains high coordination skills to use his body to protect the ball in high pressured situations. Though his influence in this phase wasn’t frequent, he was a secure option to pick up when playing through the lines.
As the quality to be progressive from deep isn’t vast, being direct is an option that Pep explores. Therefore he instructs his defenders to play straight balls to attackers and focus on winning the first & second ball. This allows the team to play up higher & avoid losing the ball in weak areas.
PROGRESSION IN THE FINAL THIRD
Possession in this phase isn’t a priority for Pep, but he does persevere on getting the ball into wide areas early. Crosses are a significant outlets for Birmingham; they register 4.6 crossers per game (7th highest in the league). So primarily, the focus is on creating crossing opportunities; intricate play to create space for an opening or play in an overlapping runner. If crossing is not an option, play is moved inside to create a chance on goal.
Jude is a very tenacious player, you can see that he has a hunger to continuously be on the ball. With his passing in more advanced areas, he features more but has a considerable lower success rate (62%). Though he is capable of playing the pass out wide, it’s the decision making when attempting vertical passes that’s reflected in the low success percentage. As Birmingham is not a possessionbased team, Jude often had to force a pass through which more than often would get cut out.
Dribbling stays his prime method of being penetrative; he completes two successful dribbles per 90 minutes. Though he is not the cleanest dribbler, his style is useful & progressive. Showing great control of the ball, using feints & drag-backs to beat players, he aims to advance closer to the goal to create a chance.
TRANSITIONING FROM ATTACK TO DEFENCE
As Birmingham’s approach leaves them vulnerable in with space in behind; pressing is needed higher up to allow the defensive shape to form. Bellingham was a complete workhorse in midfield, having an absolute obsession with winning back the ball. A solid two-way tackler, secure in a 1v1 & a clean recovery tackler; It’s impressive how hard he commits to every tackle but makes sure that his immediate intention is to win the ball. With a success rate of 65%, that amounts to just under 3 successful tackles per 90mins. Clean & hungry.
For central players reading the play of the match is crucial, the skill forms when you’re able to intercept moves and get into passing lanes. Jude averages 3 interceptions per 90 minutes; a real defensive player with an offensive outlook.
FINISHING & ASSISTS
Due to their direct nature, Birmingham had a high shot volume averaging 9.1 per game (7th in the league). If we look at Jude’s output, he contributed to 6 goals and 2 assists. Frankly, he was underachieving in both his expected goals (by 2) & expected assists (by 4). This tells us goals & assists that are expected by the majority to be converted, he has failed to do so. Despite scoring
some very well-taken goals from cut backcrosses, a large chunk of his 62 shot attempts only land with a 35% on-target accuracy. This reason behind this is a mixture of both average striking and decision making.
Young, tenacious & dynamic
CONCLUSION
In an interview for Coaches Voices, Pep Clolet spoke about the things he looks for in young players that can make them a ready for the Premier League. From kinaesthetic control to awareness, to tactical apprehension. Bellingham may not have it all now, but he is far ahead than his age mates in regards to development.
It is not to be taken lightly the achievement that Jude has displayed in his first year of professional football. Being physically & mentally able to compete 44 times in one of the most challenging leagues in world football is an outstanding achievement!
Following his move to the Bundesliga, he describes his situation as the perfect for his development. Notorious for nurturing top-tier talents, his future at Borussia Dortmund is within safe hands. The German topflight league has already seen Jadon Sancho become a star & since then another 14 English youngsters have made their made appearances, including Reece Oxford, Jamal Musiala & Rabbi Matondo. The nature of the Bundesliga acquires a style of play that encourages high-tempo attacking football. Combined with game-time for young players, it is a beautiful platform for youngsters to develop.
We have seen him make his debut for the club in the DFB-Pokal against MSV Duisburg, where the teenager opened up his account with a tidy finish. That same week making his Bundesliga debut against Borussia Mönchengladbach; instrumental again with an assist to help put three on the scoreboard. Playing with the likes of Matts Hummels, Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho & Marco Reus will assist him in painting on his forever growing canvas.
