If it’s one thing that many of us Soccermanagerites tend to look forward to is those sweet sweet player rating improvements! We mark our calenders in anticipation of players that we’ve seen doing a madness within their respective league, as well as those who haven’t been up to speed and seem to be on the decline. We also look forward to positional changes, but that’s a topic for another discussion, because in today’s episode we take a look at a player who is arguably the current best player in the world and a worthy addition to the ‘world class club’. Birmingham stand up, because we’re discussing the PHENOMENAL Jude Bellingham.
PLAYER BIO
Seriously, have you ever seen a player at his age with such finesse, composure and tenacity? Not only does Jude approach his game with as much class as you can expect from a 20 year old, but he’s also an exceptionally intelligent player who continually displays match intelligence way beyond his age. Add his leadership into the mix, and you begin to wonder if he’s a time traveler…
BEST ATTRIBUTES WITHIN SM24
It brings me a lot of joy to mention that this is the very first SM24 content that has been spoken about within the SMB! We’ve got a full season of SM24 overview coming up soon, so stick around lads… For now, lets look into Jude’s current SM24 attributes: Since this game came out when he was actually a 93 rated player, there are some of his stats that need to be improved, and I’ve gone about doing it via changing his overall rating from the initial ’89’ to ’90’, as well as looking at some of the attributes that would’ve better represented a 90 rated SM24 baller or a 94 rated SMW baller. All in all, his best attributes are exactly what you’d expect from such an all rounded Midfielder.
BEST ROLES
Bellingham is literally a ‘Swiss Knife’ due to his capability of playing almost anywhere across the middle of the park (wether he’s in an attacking or defensive position) but it needs to be said that Jude’s best position and role in the opinion of the SMB is that of an M(C) within a midfield 3. He can easily play any of the Box to Box roles, as well as being the man responsible for getting your team ticking on the ballIf anyone has contact to Gareth Southgate please show him this blog episode since I personally believe that Jude’s best position and role for the current Engalnd team would be within a double pivot role and, based on who plays alongside him, you can give him the responsibilities within the above image Ofcourse we have to mention his present AM(C) role that has him in contention for being the next Balon D’or winner if he keeps up his current form and probably wins the Champions League or the Euros…. A lot of “pundits” and “experts” have called his new role an ‘Attacking Midfileder’ role (or Advanced Playmaker role in SMW jargon), but this can’t be further from the truth. Jude plays nothing like an A.P.M when given this extra attacking responsibility. Instead, he operates like a ‘Traditional Box to Box Midfielder’, and we’ll go into more details as to whylater within this blog...Now, although Jude does not play like an ‘Advanced Playmaker’ within the no.10 position, that doesn’t mean he cannot play the role. In fact, he has the skillset to do this which was on display when he played off the left during the latter stages of his time at Dortmund. Come to think of it, Jude actually made his name playing in this wider position so even though it’s very unlikely he’ll ever play there again, he still possesses the ability to perform that role if need be.Lastly, you dun kno we had to mention a ‘3 at the back’ formation and in this one in particular, Jude should be granted the following roles if you were to choose it…
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
Like I’ve been mentioning throughout the entirety of season 7, every SMW supertar has one specific role and formation that they absolutely excel in and Jude’s one is definitely being in a midfield 3 and as a ‘Box to Box Midfielder‘ (no matter the type you choose to play him)
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMMATES
Jude is the type of player that tends to improve the players around him and doesn’t necessarily require any players next to him for him to be at his best. But, there’s still some tactical elements towards picking his teammates, so we start out with his midfield compatriots as once given the Box to Box role, the most important player to have alongside him (within a midfield 3) will be a ‘Playmaker’ who’ll effectively do majority of the on the ball creative work in order to allow Jude to display his incredible engine in addition to his ability to ghost past opposition players for fun. A ‘B.W.M’ is also necessary as he complements both of his teammates quite well and will be responsible for covering Jude when your team is in possession. A ‘W.B’ has two main responsibilities pertaining getting the best out of Jude: 1) Getting into the attacking area to put balls into the box for Jude’s late arriving runs. 2) Giving Jude the opportunity to cover him when the W.B has joined the attack. Bellingham is one of the few players who love doing both sides of the game, and this is something to remember as we continue to look at the other roles he excels in… Ofcourse, Jude can also be the one making your team play, but he isn’t your traditional style of ‘Playmaker’ that many of us Soccermanagerites are used to. What he will regularly do is to get the ball to feet and display his technical dribbling abilities as well as playing some neat short and medium range passes to his teammates. He will also always aim to make himself available for the ball which is a trait every decent ‘Playmaker’ possesses, but his range and variety of passes isn’t at the level required to be the sole creative spark. Therefore, he will firstly need a ‘B.P.D’ behind of him who can take up some of the slack (especially for those long passes), and, if playing within a midfield 3, he’ll need a ‘Technical Box to Box Midfielder’ alongside him to also give him some assistance. Ofcourse, a B.W.M will provide that extra protection which will allow Jude to get more involved in attacking situations, and as I’ve mentioned earlier, Jude still wants to be involved within the defensive side of the game so he’ll thrive having to cover for his ‘W.B.’ Lastly, one of Jude’s best pass he has within his locker is a driven through ball while running at pace, so an ‘Explosive Target Man’ or ‘Finisher’ will definitely benefit from these type of balls.🚨Attention Gareth!🚨 When playing in a double pivot formation, Jude will stand out with the right settings surrounding him. The two most important players will always be a ‘B.W.M’ and a ‘W.B’ (in back 4 formations) when Bellingham is in the XI. The other attacking players (in particular the main AM(C) ) will vary based on how you want Jude to play. If you choose to have him as a B.2.B, then he’ll need a more creative 10 infront of him…If you want Jude to be more creative, then place a floater in front of him to roam around and create space for Jude to be more impactful. In formations where there’s a single F(C) up top it is best to have a player who has good link up play and is great with his back to goal since the likes of Jude will continually look to make runs off the F(C) regardless of whether he’s playing as your ‘B.2.B’ or ‘Playmaker’… Another great way of identifying how Jude will be playing based on your set up is the choice to either use him as your ‘Playmaker’ or have his name within the slot while not ticking the U.P.M boxThis is probably the role that a lot of Soccermanagerites will be using based on the current real life form of Jude. As I stated earlier though, he is actually not playing as an ‘Advanced Playmaker’ when playing in this no 10. position. He operates as a ‘Traditional Box to Box’ Midfielder who has the responsibility to continually make runs into the box to use his physical presence when in possession, as well as dropping back as an extra defender while looking to make an impact when his team is out of possession. In both formations (4-2-3-1A and 4-4-2C) it is imperative that you have a lot of creativity happening in other areas on the pitch; The ‘W.B’ role comes in handy here as Jude is quite good at timing his runs into the box and can benefit from crosses. The F(C) is also extremely crucial since he must be a ‘R.T.M’ or ‘T.T.M’ who will occupy the defensive line so that Jude can use his movement to get into positions where he’ll be difficult to pick up. This role is arguably the most difficult to get the best out of Jude as you’ll need to have specific players around him that ensure he can function properly from the left. Back when he was at Dortmund, the then Manager Marco Rose aimed to free up Jude while still using some of the other creative players all within the same XI like Brandt, Reus, Reyna etc…. So, he chose to play him off the left which is something he did regularly back when he was just starting out at Birmingham City. The key for Bellignham here will be to have other players of the same wave length in terms of movement and creative abilities so they can all roam around freely. Additionally, there is also the need for two sitters in the middle of the park who will protect the back line as their main priority; ‘W.B’s’ who will occupy the wide areas are also a must, and a F(C) who will hold up the ball and let the lads behind of him wreak absolute havoc will be crucial. In our final formation and role, if you ever choose to play Jude within a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2, I advise you keep him as your Box to Box monarchy and play with a ‘D.L.P’ or ‘Playmaker’ next to him who will do all of the creativity (in addition to some B.P.D’s or G.D’s who have a good passing range at the back) which will completely free up Jude from doing any sort of extra creative work and would see him thrive even more.
I absolutely adore Jude Bellignham as a player and his stock has completely risen way quicker than many of us would’ve expected. Let’s hope he can keep up this reign of form for the rest of the season as it has been quite a long time since Engalnd has had a player who is considered one of the absolute best players on the planet (talking like top 5 here).
The Soccermanager Experience 