How Thomas Tuchel Used Jude Bellingham Against Croatia
· Yahoo Sports
After the 2022/23 season, Borussia Dortmund were prepared to sell Jude Bellingham to a top-tier team. Real Madrid was able to pull one off and won the English midfielder’s services. However, question marks over Bellingham’s position were raised because Los Blancos already had Toni Kroos, Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Federico Valverde, with Luka Modric coming off the bench.
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His best days with Dortmund were the ones when he operated as a box-to-box midfielder. At Real Madrid, that position was already taken. Jude Bellingham’s incoming coincided with Karim Benzema’s departure. Therefore, Carlo Ancelotti proceeded by introducing the Englishman as a ten behind Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. Fortunately, Jude Bellingham exceeded expectations, as he racked up good numbers, scoring 19 goals and assisting six, demonstrating world-class ability to arrive late in the box and read free spaces to attack.
The arrival of Kylian Mbappé in the 2024 – 2025 season meant that Bellingham was no longer needed in advanced areas, and the team would take advantage of his services by having him adopt a deeper role. One of Real Madrid’s problems in recent seasons was Bellingham’s reluctance to understand his status post-Mbappé‘s arrival.
In the 2025 – 2026 season, Bellingham had a deeper role, operating on the left, leaving his advanced role to a traditional number ten, Arda Guler.
In his first game in the World Cup, Thomas Tuchel used the English midfielder in a different way than he used to play at Real Madrid. After the 4-2 win against Croatia, the England manager, said, “The decision to let him play and trust him was because (of) the last 16-17 days, how he bought into the idea of team spirit, and how we wanted to play football. It’s different from his position in Real Madrid.”
Most of his time on the pitch against Croatia, Jude Bellingham had the license to roam on the right half-space, functioning in sync with Noni Madueke and Reece James to work out wide connections. He was operating deep to support progression or attacking spaces after Harry Kane dropped deeper, pulling defenders out of their positions.
England adopted a 4-2-2-2 when building out from the back, in which Bellingham accompanied Kane in the 10 position; and Madueke with Gordon ahead of them.
Thomas Tuchel relied on wide connections, wherein Bellingham and Madueke tended to proceed with double movements.
The former attacked the depth to drag Pasalic with him and clear the channel for Madueke to drop and receive with his preferred foot toward the inside on the pitch.
In general, double movements were key to England finding space to progress or generate passing lanes. On the right, Bellingham would coordinate with Kane or Madueke, making runs to attack the depth for one of them to drop out.
Modric’s advanced position in the high press from goalkicks, operating diagonally between Kane and Anderson, and Bellingham’s slightly high positioning supplied Harry Kane with space to receive, turn, and locate teammates.
Also, Vuskovic’s late pressure on Kane contributed to the success of England’s direct attack. Add to that Bellingham’s diagonal movement to draw Pasalic, which freed up the diagonal passing lane into Madueke, allowing England to attack in a 3v3 situation.
Harry Kane’s deeper movements were a real dilemma for Vuskovic and Modric. They preferred to hold onto their positions instead of following him.
That stuttering allowed Bellingham to come from behind and attack the depth from the right half-space, exploiting Vuskovic not returning to his position, with Gvardiol’s inability to sweep behind as he was tied to Madueke.
When England retreated, Bellingham operated alongside one of Rice and Anderson as one of them tended to drop to the backline, keeping tabs on one of Croatia’s attacking midfielders. So, Bellingham was tasked to swing across the midfield line based on the ball side and cover the central channels.
Here, he handed Pasalic to Rice down the right half-space to follow Sucic, as Croatia worked the ball across the backline. Gordon would regain possession thanks to Stanisic’s heavy touch, whereas Bellingham’s position enabled him to collect the loose ball and initiate the transition.
England worked the ball toward Madueke in a 1v1 situation against Gvardiol. The former noticed Bellingham’s in-depth run between the center-backs, playing the ball across. However, Sutalo disturbed Bellingham at the last moment.
England was more vertical on the ball, counting on Harry Kane’s deeper movements to drag markers and release runners in spaces that appeared. Second, before their third goal, the Three Lions baited Croatia forward via backward passes:
Tuchel’s team worked the ball toward Reece James, who prodded it back inside to Anderson. The latter benefited from his side-on orientation to slice Croatia open with an accurate pass into the space behind the opposing team’s backline:
After pulling out their markers, Madueke and Bellingham peeled off wide, with the former drifting infield to draw Vuskovic with him inside and clear the way for Bellingham to penetrate the box and score his first 2026 World Cup goal.
The momentum swung in favor of the English players. Following the kick-off, Thomas Tuchel’s men hunted the Croatians, forcing the goalkeeper to play long into the center.
Declan Rice and Bellingham operating in close proximity allowed the latter to collect the knockdown and drive forward, capitalizing on Croatia’s need for time to reorganize. As a result, Bellingham had the chance to increase the deficit. However, Livakovic saved the shot.
The debate that was spread across England over Bellingham’s spot in the starting eleven seemed to disappear as the English midfielder’s performance against Croatia proved his right to earn that place. “You can rely on him in these moments. He loves these pressure games — it brings out the best in him,” said Tuchel after the game. Moreover, using Jude Bellingham as a runner to capitalize on Harry Kane’s deeper movements and as a deep midfielder was a clear sign from the German manager of what type of midfielders he wants to maximize England’s playing style.