0:00 Long before Jose Mourinho returned to Real Madrid, he already had a pretty good idea of what made Jude Bellingham special. >> For example, Bellingham, I I don't know the kid. I never spoke with the kid, but I believe that there is something that separates him from the boys that were born in England, developed [music] in England, playing in England, living in England. I think this kid has to be something different. >> The two actually shared a great moment back in 2024 right after Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley to win the Champions League. >> Next season you play against Fenerbahce. >> [laughter] >> I thought that was an if as well, wasn't it? >> Mourinho had been watching Bellingham throughout his first season at Real Madrid, and he loved the maturity that he played with. This was a 20-year-old
0:47 who had just moved to one of the biggest clubs in the world, in many people's eyes, the biggest club, and looked completely comfortable from day one. Mourinho also liked how much Bellingham could give you across the pitch. He had the size and physicality to play like a traditional box-to-box midfielder. He could carry the ball forward, compete physically, and cover huge amounts of ground. Then around the penalty area, he had the movement and technical quality of an attacking midfielder. Carlo Ancelotti understood that pretty quickly during Bellingham's first season, Ancelotti gave him plenty of freedom to move around behind the forwards. He could drift into pockets of space, make runs beyond Vini and Rodrigo, and arrive inside the penalty area whenever he saw an opening. That freedom helped Bellingham have the best goal-scoring season of his career, and Mourinho paid attention to all of that. So years later, when the special one eventually
1:32 became the Real Madrid manager himself, Bellingham was one player he already understood. Mourinho had spent the entire summer watching Bellingham play well in the exact same role that he wanted to give him. At the 2026 World Cup, Thomas Tuchel pushed Bellingham much closer for England and gave him the freedom to play as an attacking midfielder. The results were ridiculous. Bellingham finished the tournament with seven goals and some of his biggest performances came once England reached the knockout stages. Against Mexico in the round of 16, England were struggling to break through a physical defense until Bellingham just took over. He scored twice in 98 seconds and completely changed the game. Then
2:18 came Norway in the quarterfinal. Bellingham scored another two goals as England needed extra time to win 2-1. Those performances made him the youngest player since Pelé in 1958 to score multiple goals in consecutive World Cup knockout matches. Even in the third place game against France, Bellingham came off the bench and scored again deep into stoppage time as England won 6-4. Yes, this game was like a charity game because nobody was defending, but still his goal was impressive. A lot of those goals came from the same type of movement Mourinho is now encouraging at Real Madrid. Bellingham would start behind Kane and wait for England to move the ball up the pitch. Once the defenders became occupied with the players ahead of him, he would make those late runs into the penalty area. And once a 6'1 midfielder with Bellingham's power gets towards the box,
3:04 he becomes incredibly difficult to deal with. Tuchel understood that. That's why he gave Rice and Elliot Anderson more responsibility during the build-up so Bellingham could spend more time around the areas where he could hurt teams. That summer gave Mourinho a pretty clear blueprint. He had already watched Bellingham produce the best goal-scoring season of his club career when Ancelotti played him higher up the pitch. Now he had just watched him score seven goals at a World Cup while playing a similar role for England. So when Mourinho arrived at Madrid, there was no reason to complicate things. He wanted Bellingham closer to Mbappé and Vini. He wanted him receiving the ball between the lines and attacking the penalty area whenever Madrid moved the ball wide. This is exactly why he started the new season cooking because he was spending way less time in his own end. You could see that in the game versus Espanyol.
3:50 Bellingham scored, completed 38 of his 42 passes, and still gave Madrid plenty defensively, winning two tackles before coming off after 80 minutes. Then came his performance against Real Sociedad at the Bernabéu. Bellingham did not score in that game, but he was involved in everything that Madrid did. He completed 95.2% of his passes and created four chances. He also won nine duels, completed three dribbles, and finished the game with two assists. The first one came after a quick one-two with Kylian Mbappe around the edge of the penalty area. The second showed another part of Bellingham's game that Mourinho has always appreciated. He bullied everyone in his way, won the ball back, and then found Vini for the finish. A few days later against Malaga, Bellingham scored again. And the goal itself tells you a lot about the role that Mourinho has
4:35 given him. Madrid worked the ball forward and Bellingham arrived late around the penalty spot, completely free, before finishing the move in the 19th minute. This is exactly where Mourinho wants him. Bellingham still has the engine to run all over the pitch. And when Madrid lose the ball, he will still work very hard defensively. Mourinho is simply being more selective about where he wants all of that energy used. Mourinho has always had a magical touch when it comes to attacking midfielders. I hope he touches me next. >> Stop. Stop. Stop. >> What do you mean by that? >> At Porto, he had Deco. Deco was obviously the creative player in that team, but Mourinho expected him to work. He pressed from the front, helped win the ball back, and had the freedom to create once Porto went forward. Then Mourinho went to Chelsea and had Frank Lampard. Mourinho had Claude Makelele sitting deeper in midfield, which gave
5:21 Lampard much more freedom to get forward. Instead of constantly worrying about what was happening behind them, Lampard could make those late runs towards the penalty area. And he scored a ridiculous amount of goals because of it. At Inter Milan, Mourinho had Wesley Sneijder. Cambiasso and Thiago Motta handled a lot of the work behind them, which allowed Sneijder to stay higher, find the ball around the box, and create chances for the forwards. Then during Mourinho's first spell at Real Madrid, he had Mesut Özil playing behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Özil was given a very clear job: find space around the forwards, get on the ball, and create. So, Mourinho had spent years building midfielders where his most dangerous attacking midfielder had protection behind them. And now, he has Jude Bellingham. Bellingham is capable of playing deeper. Let's not get that twisted. It's just that Mourinho understands that he can get the better
6:07 version of Bellingham if he plays him closer to the penalty area. So, Madrid have been playing in a 4-2-3-1 with two midfielders sitting right behind Jude. Depending on the game, Mourinho can use any combination of Tchouaméni, Camavinga, Bernardo Silva, or Fede Valverde in those deeper positions. That allows Bellingham to stay higher up. He can press the opposition midfielder from the front, fight for second balls, and then immediately join Mbappé and Vini when Madrid win possession. Once Madrid settle into an attack, he can then start looking for those runs into the box again. For Mourinho, the temptation to build around that was pretty obvious. Bellingham is loving it because he hasn't played this far forward since his first season at Real Madrid. Back in the summer of 2023, Madrid had just lost Karim Benzema and suddenly had a massive hole in their attack. Instead of going
6:53 out and buying a superstar striker, Ancelotti simply changed the formation of the team. He moved Madrid into a 4-4-2 diamond and put Bellingham right at the top of the midfield. It ended up being one of the best decisions Ancelotti made that season. Bellingham had Toni Kroos behind him controlling games, Valverde could cover huge amounts of ground, while Camavinga and Tchouaméni gave Madrid plenty of defensive protection. That meant Bellingham could spend far more time around the forwards. Vini and Rodrygo would move across the front line, defenders would follow them, and Bellingham became incredibly good at finding whatever space they left behind. Sometimes he would receive the ball between the lines and create, other times he would simply wait for the attack to develop before making one of those late runs into the penalty area. And the goals immediately started flying in. Bellingham scored 10 times in his
7:39 first 10 appearances for Madrid, matching Cristiano Ronaldo's start at the club in 2009. Then he started producing in the biggest games, too. In his first El Clásico, away against Barcelona, Madrid were losing before Bellingham scored twice, including the winner in stoppage time. A few months later, he scored another stoppage time winner against Barcelona at the Bernabéu. By the end of his first season, Bellingham had 23 goals and 13 assists in 43 appearances across all competitions. He scored 19 times in La Liga, was named the league's player of the season, and helped Madrid comfortably win the title. Then came the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham did not score that night, but he did give the assist to Vini to make it 2-0, and finish the game against his former club. So, within one season, he had won La Liga, won the Champions League, and became one of Madrid's most important players. And so
8:25 much of that came down to the way that eyebrow man was using him. Bellingham had played deeper throughout his career. That's where he was playing for Dortmund, and he was perfectly capable of helping Madrid build attacks. It's just Ancelotti already had Kroos for that. He had other midfielders who could protect the defense and move the ball forward. That allowed Bellingham to save more of his energy for the final third, where his physical qualities became incredibly difficult for defenders to handle. He could arrive inside the box like he was a striker, while still giving Madrid everything you would expect from a midfielder when possession changed hands. That first season gave a blueprint for how dangerous Bellingham could be for Real Madrid, specifically in that position. The problem is that things were about to change drastically in the following season. Kylian the dictator Mbappé arrived in 2024, which
9:10 obviously gave Madrid another superstar attacker. But it also meant Bellingham could no longer spend every game camping in the box like before. At the same time, Toni Kroos retired, and losing Kroos created a completely different problem. For years, Madrid could give Kroos the ball deep and trust him to control games. Without him, Ancelotti needed his other midfielders to take on more of that responsibility. Bellingham was one of them. So, in the 2024-2025 season, you started seeing him play in much deeper areas than he had the season before. There were games where he would come all the way toward his center-backs just to get Madrid moving forward. Then once Madrid lost possession, which happened a lot, he was expected to cover a huge amount of ground defensively as well. This became especially important because the front line was allergic to running back. Madrid would often defend
9:56 in a 4-4-2, and Bellingham found himself regularly covering the left side behind Vini. So, think about how different that was from his first season. A year earlier, Bellingham could spend most attacks waiting around the edge of the box for his opportunity to arrive late. Now he could begin a possession close to his own penalty area, help Madrid play through the first line of pressure, carry the ball forward, and then somehow still be expected to be the first one back defensively. He was being asked to do a ridiculous amount of work, so naturally, his goal-scoring numbers fell. Bellingham went from 0.74 league goals per 90 during his first season to 0.35 in the 2024-2025 season. His expected goals fell almost identically from 0.4 per 90 to 0.34. This second number is really important because it shows you just how much his goal-scoring
10:42 opportunities changed. He just wasn't in the positions to score nearly enough. His creativity still remained strong. Bellingham's expected assists increased to 0.33 per 90, and across all competitions, he still finished the season with 15 goals and 15 assists. While Bellingham got no recognition, I want all of you guys to feel appreciated. So, shout-out to our newest channel members, WillVale4276 and Davids. These guys get access to the Discord and the premium features of it, and they also get access to dark web football on pettalksports.com. This is where you can see articles that don't get produced anywhere else. It's just for the channel members. Thank you for being a part of our community. Things became even more difficult in the 2025-2026 season. Madrid were hit by
11:29 injuries across the defense. Carvajal and Mendy missed significant time, while injuries at center-back forced Tchouaméni to spend large stretches playing in defense. That took another defensive midfielder away from the middle of the pitch. But, Bellingham, once again, had to step up and fill another gap. He was dropping to receive the ball, carrying it through midfield, and making recovery runs towards his own box. There were times where he was defending around his own corner flag, or competing for headers inside Madrid's own penalty area. And he was doing all of this while dealing with a shoulder problem that had followed him for a long time. By the end of the season, Bellingham had scored only eight goals. That obviously looks really bad compared to the 23 scored during his first year at Madrid. So, naturally, people started asking what had happened to him. If people were actually watching games,
12:14 there was a very simple explanation. Bellingham was doing double the work, but getting half the recognition. His defensive numbers were among the best of his career. His ball recoveries increased, he was involved in more defensive duels and tackles, and he was still completing close to 89% of his passes while taking on far more responsibility deeper on the pitch. Bellingham had basically spent two seasons becoming whatever Madrid needed him to be. If they needed help building from the back, he dropped deep. If the left side needed protection because Vinnie was playing with his balls, he covered it. If Madrid were getting killed in transition, he ran back and defended. He could still make those runs into the opposition box, but now he was sometimes starting them 50 or 60 yards away. The benefit of that was that when Mourinho arrived and pushed Bellingham forward again, he was working with a player whose game had expanded massively since that incredible first season. Now,
13:00 to see just how big of an impact Mourinho has had on the rest of the Madrid players, you have to watch this video right here.
