Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid player

JogaBonitoRooney said:
Don't get the Zidane comparisons. Is it just because he plays for Real Madrid? Zidane was a phenomenon. He's below.

He's more like a Gerrard or Ballack.
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Im willing to bet Zidane never had a run like Bellinghams been on this season. If Zidane played in this stat heavy period we are in now, his legend status would be dented quiet a bit.

On Bellingham, he is what Pogba should have been. Though you have to say Madrid are also not holding him with a McTomannay or Fred in midfield but are giving the guy a free role in attack.
 
RedStarUnited said:
Im willing to bet Zidane never had a run like Bellinghams been on this season. If Zidane played in this stat heavy period we are in now, his legend status would be dented quiet a bit.
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Yeah that's why he Bellingham shouldn't be compared to him. They're different players.

Gerrard, Lampard, Ballack had better goal stats than Zidane but nobody sees them as better than him.

Iniesta has even worse goal stats than Zidane but people still be him as arguably the best mid in their generation. I doubt Zidane would be thought of less in this generation. He was an artist like Ronaldhino and Iniesta. He's not comparable to Bellingham and definitely a level higher.

Modric won a Ballon D'or and he's not a goal scoring mid. Bruno has such great stats for a mid but he's so meh. There's many other examples.

I don't believe goal stats for mids are more important in this generation than previous ones. You can't judge midfielders quality solely on goal stats.
 
RedStarUnited said:
Im willing to bet Zidane never had a run like Bellinghams been on this season. If Zidane played in this stat heavy period we are in now, his legend status would be dented quiet a bit.

On Bellingham, he is what Pogba should have been. Though you have to say Madrid are also not holding him with a McTomannay or Fred in midfield but are giving the guy a free role in attack.
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Pogba and Bellingham aren't really that similar aside from being tall, Pogba was an elite passer both in attack and from deep, Bellingham less so. Pogba could dribble when he wanted to but Bellingham has a way more energetic and action packed game. A boy like scholesy Vs Gerrard in terms of play style.
 
RedStarUnited said:
Im willing to bet Zidane never had a run like Bellinghams been on this season. If Zidane played in this stat heavy period we are in now, his legend status would be dented quiet a bit.

On Bellingham, he is what Pogba should have been. Though you have to say Madrid are also not holding him with a McTomannay or Fred in midfield but are giving the guy a free role in attack.
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Neither did the likes of modric or if we're willing to go back further Iniesta and xavi and yet they're considered bona fide legends of the game no question asked because that's just how good they are, Zidane will still be fine in today's football reputation wise.
 
Bellingham is nowhere near as technically refined or elegant has Zidane, even in his goal today you see him almost lose control the ball to the very last moment, till he does a nice little touch inside before scoring.

Has way more similarities to other to layers named in this thread, even the Pogba comparison is more apt but again Pogba had a higher level of technical ability, where Bellingham wins is his tactical nous intensity and mental fortitude at such a young age, he’s still very good technically himself but he’s no Zidane. He’ll be great player in his own right.
 
MassVolto said:
Bellingham is way ahead those two technically, it's not even close see it for yourself look for this vid on YT:
Bellingham is Seriously Turning to Prime Zidane
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Way ahead? Not even close, he’s a better dribbler that’s all, the other two were much better passers both in range and final pass.
 
Only just seen the goal he scored. What an incredible talent this lad is. Surely cemented the discussion on the best U-21 in the world bar none. Don’t know what the people who voted for Gavi last year were smoking
 
RedStarUnited said:
Im willing to bet Zidane never had a run like Bellinghams been on this season. If Zidane played in this stat heavy period we are in now, his legend status would be dented quiet a bit.

On Bellingham, he is what Pogba should have been. Though you have to say Madrid are also not holding him with a McTomannay or Fred in midfield but are giving the guy a free role in attack.
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If Zidane played in a stat heavy period, he’d have better stats.
 
RoyH1 said:
Only just seen the goal he scored. What an incredible talent this lad is. Surely cemented the discussion on the best U-21 in the world bar none. Don’t know what the people who voted for Gavi last year were smoking
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Musiala has a better case who is also 20. He's very good. If he was English and played for Real Madrid, he'd be rated as high I feel.
 
Bellingham is the real deal, but a lot of you have forgotten just how defining Zidane was to his generation. One of the most elegant ball controllers to ever grace the pitch
 
Tom Cato said:
Bellingham is the real deal, but a lot of you have forgotten just how defining Zidane was to his generation. One of the most elegant ball controllers to ever grace the pitch
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I don't think they have forgotten that but see potential due to his age. Bellingham racks up MotM performances for Real Madrid, at the same age Zidane was playing in Cannes who were an UEFA Cup team. That was simply a tier below and Zidane stayed for several years to develop on that level before moving to the real big stage.

Bellingham has a massive head start in his career compared to Zidane, who knows how this will keep going?
 
Sky1981 said:
We should compare 20 years old Zidane to 20 years old Bellingham
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Why?

is it fair to also say something like let’s compare 35 year old Rooney to 35 year old Lewandowski? Or let’s compare 18 year old Owen to 18 year old Henry…..
 
Righteous Steps said:
Not really, he’s a different type of player, stats still meant something in his day too.
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Probably peak Zidane could have played well together with Bellingham, sending him on runs into the box etc.
 
What’s with the incessant need to compare him to anyone? He’s clearly a unique player with a unique upbringing, he may or may not achieve more than some former legends, but his game is completely different to almost any midfielder there’s ever been. Doesn’t mean he’s better or worse than Zidane, but comparing them is idiotic.
 
We’d be talking a different game if we somehow managed to sign him & haaland back in the day.
 
Damien said:
We were in for him when he was leaving Birmingham but he chose to go to Dortmund. I doubt he'd have come to us even if we were in the best of circumstances. Terrible luck for us that he and Haaland support our rivals and had no shortage of options of clubs to move to.
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I suspect that had he joined United from Birmingham he still wouldn't be anywhere near the first team. Probably be out on loan in the championship, pretty back at Birmingham City. And, some people would be saying, he's only 20, he's not ready yet - needs another season on loan.
 
Lord SInister said:
Sorry for going off topic, but prime Lewandowski will always be rated higher than Rooney.
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That is not as clear cut as you're making out, clear case of recency bias. Rooney would have had a much higher output if he'd played in the Bundesliga for most of his career and was also a much better creator than Lewa as well as being so versatile, almost to a fault.

He was also capable of those moments of magic which Lewandowski simply wasn't capable of. I'd take Rooney every day of the week, not just because the team would be equally successful, but because he was simply more fun to watch.
 
Is he going to break scoring records for a midfielder at Madrid?

I must admit how he’s settled at madrid has taken me by surprise
 
Surely he can't keep this goal scoring up. He has almost scored as many goals in 9 games as he did in 3 seasons in Bundesliga.
 
Monmouthshire Red said:
I suspect that had he joined United from Birmingham he still wouldn't be anywhere near the first team. Probably be out on loan in the championship, pretty back at Birmingham City. And, some people would be saying, he's only 20, he's not ready yet - needs another season on loan.
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:lol:

Without a doubt
 
zaafi said:
Surely he can't keep this goal scoring up. He has almost scored as many goals in 9 games as he did in 3 seasons in Bundesliga.
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His Bundesliga record can't be directly compared to his current numbers, simply because he played most of the time playing as an 8 behind a 10 (mostly Reus) and a striker (Haaland, Haller). Real fields him as a 10 behind forwards who often leave the center open for him to run into (Vinicius Junior can't hide that he spend years as a left winger).

Not saying that he will keep up the current rate, but I am sure he will keep scoring more than in Dortmund as long as he plays this much more advanced position.
 
stefan92 said:
His Bundesliga record can't be directly compared to his current numbers, simply because he played most of the time playing as an 8 behind a 10 (mostly Reus) and a striker (Haaland, Haller). Real fields him as a 10 behind forwards who often leave the center open for him to run into (Vinicius Junior can't hide that he spend years as a left winger).

Not saying that he will keep up the current rate, but I am sure he will keep scoring more than in Dortmund as long as he plays this much more advanced position.
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I know, but those numbers are better than most strikers' :lol:

I had a feeling he would settle well in Real Madrid, but not to this extent and not so quickly. Very impressive.
 
Care_de_Bobo said:
That is not as clear cut as you're making out, clear case of recency bias. Rooney would have had a much higher output if he'd played in the Bundesliga for most of his career and was also a much better creator than Lewa as well as being so versatile, almost to a fault.

He was also capable of those moments of magic which Lewandowski simply wasn't capable of. I'd take Rooney every day of the week, not just because the team would be equally successful, but because he was simply more fun to watch.
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Excellent post. These arguments can also be used when it comes to Lewa-Benzema comparisons.

The main argument when putting Lewa above the likes of Rooney or Benzema is his amazing goalscoring record. But as you've said, he spent most of his career in Bundesliga, which has been the fourth best league in europe and probably the most offensive minded league of the top four, and in a Bayern side with no serious competition most of the time.
Rooney and Benzema played their whole careers in the best leagues in the world.

I also agree on the last part, Lewa is a fantastic goalscorer with excellent technical ability but he's not a playmaker or a dribbler like a Rooney or a Benzema and he's less exciting to watch.
 
Marvin look out said:
Excellent post. These arguments can also be used when it comes to Lewa-Benzema comparisons.

The main argument when putting Lewa above the likes of Rooney or Benzema is his amazing goalscoring record. But as you've said, he spent most of his career in Bundesliga, which has been the fourth best league in europe and probably the most offensive minded league of the top four, and in a Bayern side with no serious competition most of the time.
Rooney and Benzema played their whole careers in the best leagues in the world.

I also agree on the last part, Lewa is a fantastic goalscorer with excellent technical ability but he's not a playmaker or a dribbler like a Rooney or a Benzema and he's less exciting to watch.
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Comparing different leagues is indeed difficult as you rightfully point out, which is why I like to compare them in the CL. And there we see Lewa scoring 92 goals in 112 matches, being third behind only Messi and CR7 as all time top scorer. Benzema has 90 in 152, right behind him and considering his better playmaking definitely on a similar level. Rooney has 30 in 85 matches, he just isn't a comparison to both of them if you look at their whole careers. At his peak he was surely up there but that was simply far too short.

To come back to topic this is I think an excellent point why it is difficult to compare a 20 year old to all time greats. You just don't know if their career will progress like Rooney's did and essentially fizzle out. Currently Bellingham is on a similar upwards trajectory as young Rooney, but as Rooney proves that doesn't guarantee an amazing and long career.
 
I don’t think prime Rooney over prime Lewa is a controversial take at all. Both incredible, best of the best sort of the players but if I had to pick between them I’m taking Rooney.
 
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