Jude Bellingham: Running with pace and purpose

Lightning-quick to see a transitional opportunity, Bellingham’s footballing instinct is to make runs that hurt the opposition, committing players between the lines when he has the ball or penetrating channels and pockets of space without it. His intuition is turbocharged with indefatigable drive and an innate understanding of when it is tactically appropriate to power forwards. He also has the alertness and quickness be the first to a loose ball or to get into space ahead of the play, as well as wonderful technical qualities to take full advantage of any openings created. The following video examples showcase the full range of his dynamic and world-class signature skillset.

Always on the front foot and capable of covering vast swathes of the pitch, Bellingham possesses incredible energy levels and a relentless desire to force the play forwards. He takes up various positions in proximity to the ball, or hunts it down from further afield, always tactically alert and anticipating second-ball opportunities or that it will come his way. His tactical readiness is complemented by the physical attributes needed to beat the opposition to the ball. He frequently latches onto loose balls situations or gets into space ahead of the play, substantiating his speed of mind and fleetness of foot.

Eager to capitalise on any opportunity, Bellingham makes things happen with his desire to always play forwards, penetrating opposition territory and driving through the middle of the pitch with the ball at his feet, or making perfectly timed accelerations into the channels in behind the defensive line without it. His footballing signature is never more evident than when injecting tempo into a transitional phase, progressing the ball and ghosting into the space between opponents before playing a final pass.

His explosive runs frequently create goalscoring opportunities by occupying the opposition’s attention and drawing them out of position in pursuit of him. This in turn creates space in the final third for Bellingham and his team-mates to exploit. He takes full advantage of the openings he creates thanks to wonderful tactical awareness and technical ability. Specifically, he makes optimal passing decisions in transitional phases, selecting the appropriate foot and weighting of the ball with pinpoint accuracy into the path of his team-mates

Our first example highlights Bellingham’s formidable quality and reading of the game. He sees and seizes the opportunity to attack by latching onto a loose ball and driving forwards, before selecting the optimal pass and executing it with perfect timing and precision to play in his team-mates following a wonderful piece of individualism. We join the action as a cross is deflected towards the midpoint of England’s half. Bellingham is deep in his own penalty area and the first to react.

As the cross is delivered, Bellingham is in a line of players, goal side of his nearest opponent, ready and in position to perform his defensive duties.

As the ball is deflected, he is the only player positioned with an eye on an attacking transition.

As the ball bounces towards an opponent at the midpoint of England’s half, Bellingham, who is in no position to contemplate getting to the ball first, is already in full flight some 15 metres away, anticipating that the opponent may have difficulty in controlling it.

A high bounce and the presence of Bellingham charging forwards leads to a loose ball. Aided by his alertness, pace and footballing craft, Bellingham manages to steal the ball and guide it away from the opponent into the opposite direction with a clever header.

Bellingham nods the ball down and cuts across the path of his opponent, thereby removing him from the play while opening up the pitch ahead of him.

After gaining 20 metres and evading a challenge, a simple vertical through-ball is available. Resisting the temptation to play the pass early, he draws in the opposition players and allows the run of his team-mate to drag the opposition away from the England player making the run on the left.

Delaying the pass while turning infield and shifting the ball onto his left foot, Bellingham draws the defender closer to his right side and facing away from the two England players running into the space in behind. This leaves the last defender isolated.

A perfectly weighted left-foot pass gives England an advantageous 2v1 scenario.

Our second video shows another notable attribute of Bellingham’s signature skillset, namely his running with pace and purpose without the ball, on this occasion from the halfway line and into the final third. It is a perfect example of being one step ahead of the play, dragging opponents like a magnet into the space he has identified, which in turn creates space and openings for him and his team-mates to exploit. We join the action as the ball is played down the left flank and into the opposition’s half.

As the ball is played down the flank and already aware of a potential one-two, Bellingham is preparing to make a run, holding off an opponent to stay goal side.

When his team-mate moves out wide to receive a pass, he anticipates that his team-mate’s marker will also be pulled out wide and sees the potential for a ball played into the space that has been created. He sets off into the space in anticipation.

As the ball is slotted forwards, Bellingham scans back to assess its weight and trajectory and to fine-tune his run in behind. The left-sided centre-back is also drawn across towards him in an attempt to provide defensive cover.

He latches onto the pass with opponents trailing behind him, his eyes fixed on the ball and the centre-back sprinting across to meet him. His alertness and pace enable him to get into the space ahead of the play. By pulling the centre-back out of position, he has also created space in the box for his team-mate to run into.

Entering the box at speed, he drags the ball forwards with the instep of his right foot and angled towards his left, keeping the ball just out of the centre-back’s reach, as he sets himself to play in his team-mate with a left-footed pass.

Finally, he plays a sublime reverse pass, weighted perfectly along the cut of the grass for his team-mate to pounce onto and slot home

This example showcases all of Bellingham’s trademark attributes, with an injection of urgency and tempo with and without the ball. From the moment he latches onto a loose ball deep inside his own half to being the player furthest into opposition territory to provide the final ball, this is a fantastic example of his alertness and how he drives the team forwards with relentless determination to make himself available in all phases of the attack and to keep moves going by providing solutions and creating opportunities for team-mates.

The ball is bouncing awkwardly for an opponent on the edge of the penalty box, and Bellingham is already anticipating what will happen and showing his intent to pounce on any potential loose ball.

While darting towards his own goal to pick up the loose ball, Bellingham scans back to assess the distance to the closest player and the options for an attacking transition, during which time the nearest opponent has hardly moved.

As the opposition players start to react, Bellingham is already on the front foot, with the ball at his feet and the space ahead of him to launch a counter-attack.

He injects speed into the move and plays the ball out wide, continuing his run alongside the team-mate to his right, who sprints ahead and drags the defensive line deeper. Not wanting to occupy the same space, Bellingham elects to run at the same speed as the players hugging the touchline.

Entering the final third, Bellingham runs into a pocket of space between opponents to provide a passing option for the player hugging the touchline, which gives the signal for his team-mate higher up the pitch to dart inside in anticipation of a short lay-off played into his path.

After playing a delightfully improvised pass using the heel of his right foot, he seizes the opportunity to get goal side of the opponent next to him and run in behind for a potential return pass.

After latching onto the return ball, he keeps it under close control as a cluster of opposition defenders scramble around him to block his run. This leaves his team-mate in a pocket of space inside, and Bellingham takes full advantage with another delightful pass off the inside of his right heel.

This final example follows Bellingham’s contribution during a long passage of play that epitomises his world-class skillset. With his team trailing in the game, he runs back and forth with the play before ultimately running from inside his own half and arriving in the space between two defenders in the opposition box to play a short return pass. It is an inspiring display of his commitment to tracking back and his desire to get forward, and another great example of how he provides solutions and creates opportunities for the attacking players around him.

To gain a better perspective of Bellingham’s involvement in this passage of play, we join the action as he sees the attacking options developing on the right-hand channel and makes his way towards the opposition box to contribute to the attack.

The attacking phase ends with a clearance that leads to an opposition breakaway, with Bellingham one of only two players in his team that make the long, arduous defensive run deep into their own territory.

We rejoin him 14 seconds later, on the attack once more from inside his own half and some 25 metres short of the attacking line. As a team-mate plays a through-ball to progress the attacking move, Bellingham injects extra pace and purpose into his run to get forwards and provide support.

Having worked hard to gain ground on the players in front of him, Bellingham is now in a position in which we are accustomed to seeing him, slightly behind the play and ready to spring a surprise and penetrate the space ahead of him to provide attacking options for his team-mates.

With the opposition defenders retreating and focused on the player with the ball approaching the penalty box, Bellingham, who almost goes unnoticed, continues to drive forwards to give his team-mate the option of playing him into the space in behind.

As his team-mate plays the pass between two defenders, Bellingham darts into the space between four opponents, drawing the opposition’s attention and creating space in the corner of the box for him and his team-mate to exploit.

Alert in his mind and quick with his feet, he plays a short reverse pass with his right heel beautifully into the path of his team-mate, leaving three opponents isolated and clustered and a fourth decelerating, on his heels and lunging in as the England player drives across the box.

Involved in transitions all over the pitch, constantly on the move and near impossible to mark, Bellingham is the quintessential box-to-box player. He has an insatiable appetite to run and a mindset focused on playing forwards at all times. He always seems to be one step ahead of the play and first to the ball. He grasps attacking opportunities by making incisive runs into space, His power and determination on the ball draw clusters of opponents towards him, and he combines longer and more measured runs from deep with late darts into pockets of space within the box. These pacey and purposeful runs create opportunities and provide solutions for his team-mates.