Jude Bellingham suggests he is a 'victim' of his own versatility at Real Madrid

Bellingham says he has been asked to play a deeper role under Alvaro Arbeloa than previous head coaches. Alex Grimm / Getty Images Share full articleJude Bellingham has said he can be a “victim” of his own versatility at Real Madrid as he is often asked to play multiple positions. Bellingham added that his role has changed under Alvaro Arbeloa, who replaced Xabi Alonso as Madrid head coach in mid-January. The midfielder has scored six goals and provided four assists in 32 appearances this season, having registered 23 goals and 13 assists and then 15 goals and 15 assists during his first two full seasons with Madrid. “There’s no doubt there’s been a change,” Bellingham told a news conference on Tuesday, when asked if he was struggling to find his best position on the pitch. “In the first year, we played with a kind of three-base midfield. I played up top of that midfield in like a diamond with two wingers like strikers ahead of me. The second year was a bit more off the left, coming inside and this season with Xabi and with Arbeloa, I’ve been asked to play a little bit deeper. “One of my qualities is that I can play in different positions and do different things to a good level and I think sometimes maybe I’m a little bit of a victim to that, in terms of having to be moved around if things aren’t going well. But it’s definitely a change, it’s one that I’ve had to kind of get used to. “When I’m scoring goals, everyone wants me to be more involved in the build-up and when I’m not scoring, everyone wants the opposite. It’s important for me to find balance, understand what I can give the team, even when I’m not scoring, and hopefully I can just keep practising and understand whatever role the manager wants me to do.” Bellingham was speaking to the media ahead of Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich in Germany. Madrid lost last week’s first leg 2-1 at the Bernabeu. Arbeloa’s side also find themselves nine points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona in the Spanish title race, following Friday’s 1-1 home draw with mid-table Girona. Bellingham started alongside fellow stars Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe in that match, amid suggestions that the trio are struggling to perform consistently when on the pitch at the same time. “It’s difficult because there have been many matches where we’ve worked very well together,” Bellingham said. “The two of them tend to play more on the left and I have to play more in the centre, which can make it hard to find the right balance and make the most of the quality we have. “We have to trust in the quality we have and focus on the positives. There have been plenty of matches where we’ve lacked a bit of fluidity, but I’m not worried because when things click, as we hope they will tomorrow, we can win matches with this balanced line-up.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Mario Cortegana Santos is a Football Writer for The Athletic covering Real Madrid. He has followed Los Blancos since 2019 at Diario AS, Goal.com and MARCA. He usually appears on Gol TV and is a main collaborator in the YouTube show The Four Amigos Podcast. He has covered the EURO 2020 and Qatar 2022. Follow Mario on Twitter @MarioCortegana