Gareth Southgate has warned the nation not to expect Jude Bellingham to be England’s Euro saviour.
Bellingham will step up his preparations for the opening game against Serbia next Sunday after being given time to rest after playing a pivotal role in Real Madrid ’s Champions League and La Liga double. Pressure will be on the 20-year-old to show why he is now being hailed as a Ballon d’Or winner.
But after seeing his team given a huge wake-up call by the minnows of Iceland at Wembley on Friday night, Southgate feels it would be unfair to put the expectation of the country on Bellingham’s young shoulders.
Southgate said: “We are not putting everything on Jude. We’ve got a lot of good players and it is a collective thing to go and try to win this tournament.
“If we are relying on one person that isn’t going to be a team that wins. Jude is, of course, a player with a fabulous mentality - and he will have a big impact on the whole group.
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“I’m sure Jude will give the squad a lift but it is not his responsibility to do that. It is for all of us to get the focus right, to make sure individually our mentality is right - and as a coaching team we will make sure we are working on the areas that need to be better than they were against Iceland.
“We were actually excellent without the ball in our last three matches but we were a long way off that against Iceland. It’s a good reminder for us as a team. If you are off it as a collective without the ball then you can have problems.”
Southgate has defensive issues going into the tournament. Harry Maguire was deemed unfit to make the squad and his Manchester United team-mate Luke Shaw is battling to be ready for the opening game after being sidelined for four months with hamstring issues.
Bellingham will link up with his England team-mates as a European champion (Getty Images)John Stones left Wembley on Friday night with his ankle heavily strapped after being substituted at half-time - and the Manchester City centre-back also has a poor injury record.
Southgate is reluctant to return to a back-three, even though that would allow him to push Kyle Walker inside and find a place for the creative Trent Alexander-Arnold at wing-back.
He said: “A back three is not something we’ve talked about. It’s not a route we have been looking to go down for sure. Availability of players changes what you may do and what profile of player you may play in certain positions.
“But we have been on a good path without the ball against top level opponents in Belgium and Brazil. Against Iceland, we didn’t get that right.
“There are still players we are finding out about and so it really sharpens the focus of what we need to do leading into the game against Serbia.”
Southgate added: “We spoke after the game about what needs to be better and we will be working through the details of those things. Sometimes a performance like that can really sharpen the focus, sharpen the attention to the fundamentals of the game that have to be right.
“Maybe in the last few weeks we’ve talked a little bit too much about what we want to be with the ball. If you’re not bright without the ball, which we weren’t, then you can have problems against any side.
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“When you’re one game away from a tournament there is also a little bit of not wanting to get injured.
“So I understand some of the reasons for the performance, but it is a jolt at a good time for us because we’ll have to get that preparation next week spot on. It means we’ll have an edge to things, which we need.”
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