England have no chance of winning the World Cup if one star is unavailable

England have been told that they have no chance of winning the World Cup next summer if Jude Bellingham is unavailable.

That is the verdict of Arsenal legend Perry Groves, who claimed the Real Madrid star is one of three irreplaceable Three Lions players.

Getty

Bellingham is the main absentee from Thomas Tuchel‘s latest squad after undergoing surgery to fix a long-standing shoulder complaint.

Without the 22-year-old, England laboured to a drab 2-0 win against Andorra in a game devoid of creativity and guile.

Eberechi Eze deputised for Bellingham in the No.10 role, but was one of three attackers singled out by Tuchel for criticism post-match, and talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham rated the new Arsenal signing a 3/10.

It was a performance that instantly silenced debate before kick-off that England as a whole could benefit from Bellingham’s absence.

On the pitch, the midfielder is one of the best in the world, but continued question marks over his attitude – even by Tuchel himself live on talkSPORT in June – have been raised.

To add insult to injury, Bellingham’s father, Mark, has also found himself making unwanted headlines for his own behaviour recently.

Last month, the 49-year-old confronted Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl in the tunnel after his younger son, Jobe, had been substituted at half-time on his Bundesliga debut.

“Basically, when I saw that, and as a father myself, and a dad who’s very influential in my career, and my dad’s my hero – Jude and Jobe Bellingham should tell their dad to keep their nose out of the football side of it,” Groves told talkSPORT’s Sunday Session with Sam Matterface.

“Completely. You shouldn’t be talking to coaches; you shouldn’t be talking to managers. You should be as far away as possible.

“Because what Mark Bellingham did there for Jobe is he embarrassed Jobe. He embarrassed him in front of everybody by having a word with Sebastian Kehl, the sporting director of Dortmund.”

Getty

Getty

‘The dark side of Mark Bellingham’

Groves continued: “So that’s nothing to do with the football side, what the coach does, what the manager does. It’s nothing to do… Got to be honest, I’ve always said that I think they’ve been very well managed by their mum and dad.

“Mark Bellingham, obviously being very instrumental in Jude’s career from Birmingham, where he was well looked after, played on the left wing, then to Dortmund, then to Real Madrid.

“Jobe, same thing, from Birmingham, his son at Dortmund. But on the football side, these two young men now.

“Jude is 22, Jobe is 19. They should be saying, ‘Dad, keep your nose out of the football side stuff. It’s nothing to do with you.'”

A Daily Mail piece entitled ‘The dark side of Mark Bellingham’ has since been published this weekend, which detailed his brewing storm with the FA that has split the England dressing room.

Getty

Leave Bellingham out ‘if it’s the right thing to do’

The journalist, Oliver Holt, who wrote it, joined talkSPORT’s GameDay coverage on Saturday to lift the lid on the article.

Within it, it was referenced that Bellingham, who made his senior England debut in November 2020, is the only star not to speak to the English media outside his contractual obligations.

His perceived special treatment has divided players in the dressing room, with the FA allegedly keen for the 44-cap international to fall in line with the standard media duties, but are afraid to take on his father.

As a result, Stuart Pearce then questioned whether or not Jude should be excluded from the England team altogether.

AFP

Pearce told talkSPORT: “I’ve been around the game a long time, and sometimes you judge and get it awfully wrong, and I hope I’m awfully wrong on this one.

“I think this get-together with no Jude in the squad will show the manager, ‘OK, what’s the atmosphere amongst the rest of the group?’ And you have to make big calls within the group.

“At the moment, we think leaving Jude Bellingham out of the team would be outlandish.

“But for the greater good, somewhere down the line of the team, if it’s the right thing to do, it’s always the right thing to do.”

Getty

Jude Bellingham is world-class

Arsenal legend Groves instantly disputed such a claim, going on to name Bellingham as one of England’s golden trio with midfield partner Declan Rice and Three Lions captain Harry Kane.

“I love Stu, you know, I love Pearcy, right? But you know what he said, you might have to…” Groves started.

“By the way, Jude Bellingham is world-class. These managers and coaches will tell you that they treat everybody the same. They don’t.

“The better you are, the more leeway that you get, because it’s the risk-to-reward that you go… And I’m not saying that Jude Bellingham is, because again, with Oliver Holt, we’re saying there’s a division in the England camp with the players. I don’t know. I’m not affy of what goes in it, alright?

“The players, they will take Jude Bellingham’s behaviour to a certain level because he is that good, because he is the elite, and he is the player.

Getty

“Put it this way, Sam. If Jude Bellingham isn’t fit and not playing in the World Cup, I don’t think we’ve got any chance of winning it.

“If he’s playing and he’s fit and he’s flying and Harry Kane is fit and flying and we’re talking about Declan Rice as well, then with those three, you have a chance of winning it.

“With any of those three injured or not playing, I don’t think any of them are replaceable. So you get treated differently.

“I don’t think the England players, because Jude Bellingham’s doing minimal media work and interviews, I don’t think that bothers the England players whatsoever.”