England: Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham have to be allowed to flourish at the World Cup
CRAIG HOPE: Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are a £300m midfield duo England have for FREE – it’d be an opportunity missed if Gareth Southgate restricted both at the World Cup
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Not even the richest clubs in the world could afford to go out and buy the central-midfield partnership that Gareth Southgate has at his disposal for free in Qatar.
It would, we estimate, cost a near £300million to pair West Ham‘s Declan Rice and Borussia Dortmund‘s Jude Bellingham in your team, and not even would-be suitors such as Manchester City and Liverpool could stretch to that. They might get one of them this summer, but not both.
How fortunate Southgate is, then, that he can build his England side around two players who look to have the skills to complement one another perfectly.
Declan Rice (left) and Jude Bellingham will be key to any England success at the World Cup
Midfield duo watch on during an England training session in Doha, ahead of the World Cup
We have been here before, of course, making assumptions of international longevity – Jack Wilshere, 30, and Ross Barkley, 28, could, in theory, be England’s midfield two at this World Cup – but in Rice, 23, and Bellingham, 19, it feels like a duo who are here to stay. Not that endurance guarantees success.
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were the midfield double act who each surpassed 100 caps but never found a way to exist happily on the same stage. On reflection, they were failed by both the 4-4-2 formation stubbornly deployed and their own reluctance to sacrifice a part of their game.
Rice and Bellingham should not have that conflict. The system – be it 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3 – accommodates them without the need for compromise. In old parlance, Rice can sit, Bellingham can go. Equally, those roles can be reversed.
As Bellingham himself said: ‘I’ve played with Declan a few times now for England and it’s been a pleasure. He allows me to do the things that I want to do with the ball, going forward, trying to get in and around the box, he gives you protection, so I think we complement each other very well.’
Bellingham is a generational talent who looks set for the very top. If the presence of Rice is what he needs to feel protected – his words – then Southgate should listen.
Rice, 23, and Bellingham, 19, could be the Three Lions midfield pairing for years to come
For even though the West Ham man is the senior of the two, it is the younger player who England should be centering their team around. He can control games, he can change games.
If you look at the other midfield options, they can do one of those, but not both. Rice, Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips can control, James Maddison, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish can change. That is why Bellingham is a unique talent.
But so, too, is Rice. He should not be limited to a holding berth and, by his own admission, has the tools to score more. He certainly has the legs to put himself in dangerous areas and the technique to finish. That is why, alongside Bellingham, they have the capacity to surprise opponents.
It would be an opportunity missed were Southgate to instruct the pair to hold their positions, instead channelling attacking efforts through those in more advanced roles.
If you have a strength, play to it, and Rice and Bellingham look like England’s strongest hand.
England boss Gareth Southgate has to let his young stars flourish in midfield out in Qatar
