Which England midfielder would you rather your team sign, West Ham United’s Declan Rice or Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham? After the World Cup both players are going to be chased by bigger clubs. Rice is 23 years old. Bellingham is just 19. If you’re looking for what “bossing the midfield” means, just watch these two play in the midfield for England.
When Frank Lampard managed Chelsea he wanted to sign both midfielders.
🗣 "I wanted to sign Jude Bellingham & Declan Rice for Chelsea."
Frank Lampard reveals he tried to sign the England midfielders when he was in charge at Chelsea pic.twitter.com/pKbjvHJ16r
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 21, 2022
Surely the big clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City will try to sign Bellingham, but perhaps Rice is the cheaper and better buy. While not as talented as Bellingham, he is a solid football player who centers the team and keeps his calm – winning balls and settling things down when needed.
What stands out about both players is they fight for the soccer ball and desire to win it. And they both cover a lot of ground. They dominate the midfield area and allow their attacking players to have more freedom on the ball. As I said, they boss the midfield.
While they are not quite Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield, they both have good touch on the ball and know how to get out of pressure with a few short passes.
While Bellingham may one day be the best footballer in the world, Rice goes about his game in a more understated style that can help teams win trophies and titles.
The big difference is Bellingham’s ability to go at players. This and his goal scoring talent will make him an expensive signing. Here’s Bellingham’s clever glancing header versus Iran.
A closer look at Jude Bellingham's first goal for @England 🤩🏴 pic.twitter.com/rSxkq6kn6Z
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 21, 2022
It will very interesting to see how Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah do against the English midfielders when the United States play England in a few days. The United States midfielders are young too, so it should be quite the battle. All players full of energy and trying to help their teams win.
If England win the World Cup it will because of the quality of Rice and Bellingham in the midfield and their play overall.
