When the final whistle blew, Jobe Bellingham collapsed to the grass, flat on his back, breathing heavily. Depleted, frustrated and beaten, Sunderland’s 7th team had a very disappointing Saturday.
At the final whistle, Jude Bellingham was booed by his Real Madrid teammates, his winning smile reflecting his winning role in the dramatic Clasico. After scoring in the 91st minute to secure victory, 5th placed Real had an entertaining Sunday.
Comparing Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Millwall with Real Madrid’s 3-2 win at Barcelona might seem a leap, but two games in 24 hours were bridged by the Bellingham brothers.
Jude, the veteran, is having an impressive first season in Madrid. Jobe, the younger one, is also doing quite well at Sunderland.
For reasons of reputation – and space – Jude is referred to in newspaper headlines by his first name (“Jude pone el broche a La Liga” was Marca on Monday morning), but the surname Bellingham is on his back. Jobe is often referred to as Sunderland’s Bellingham but has the name Jobe on his shirt and when the tannoy announces the team at the Stadium of Light it is ‘Jobe’.
(Ben Roberts photo/Getty Images)
Coming off the pitch after a spectacularly dismal game that even interim manager Mike Dodds called “boring”, Jobe may have noticed the contrast to the previous game he had attended – Real’s penalty shoot-out against Manchester City in the Champions League. where his brother scored the decisive penalty.
Still, he got up and walked around, applauding those who remained on an almost deserted ground. Some clapped back, but there is growing anger among Sunderland supporters at what they see as a wasted season following the attacking promise of the previous campaign. They have scored twice in five games and started with five at home.
Jobe was positioned in front of the center three in the hope of progressing, for 45 minutes. In the second half, he was leading and leading. Such was Sunderland’s lack of creativity, they barely got a touch, never mind a chance to score.
But the 45th game of the season was complete, an impressive total when you consider the metric even more important than the idiosyncrasies of his last name — Bellingham was 17 when the season began.
He made his debut in January 2022 for Birmingham aged 16 years and 107 days. He was the club’s second youngest ever player – only Jude had been younger. By the end of last season, Jobe had made 26 appearances for them; it gives a sense of experience, and it is experience, but only two lasted 90 minutes.
That’s why Dodds last week described Bellingham as the “2. scholar of the year”, who will not become a professional in the first year until the following season.
“I’ll have to get back to it,” Dodds explained. “There is so much scrutiny around Jobe if he doesn’t play well. It’s unfair because he’s just so young and I don’t think people appreciate how good he is for his age.
“Because of his second name and the comparisons, he is sometimes unfairly overdiagnosed. These are the cards he’s been dealt and he’s got to get on with it. I have had that conversation with him.
“Jobe scored seven goals, which is incredible for a second-year scholar. He should play youth national team football.”
While Dodds knows Jobe and Bellinghams well – Dodds coached Jobe as an eight-year-old in Birmingham City’s academy – he reminded us that not only is Jobe in his first season away from his Midlands roots, Dodds is the third managerial voice in the dressing room he has. heard.
Tony Mowbray and Michael Beale were the others and, as Dodds said, all three have chosen Bellingham, which has been played in various places.
Put those circumstances together and the boy who turned 18 at the end of September has been impressive and exciting – but also inconsistent, understandably at his age.
At Southampton last month, for example, Bellingham gained national attention for a beautiful deflection that swept into the top corner from 20 yards. He was praised for that too locally, it’s only fans who watch every game who also saw his mistake before Southampton’s first game.
Bellingham took to social media to apologize, which was unnecessary but a sign of the world teenagers live in.
At Sunderland, Jobe is part of a strategy that saw Southampton’s starting line-up become the youngest in the club’s 145-year history – 21 years and three days.
A strong emphasis on youth under the owners has been beneficial for Bellingham – and partly explains his £2million transfer from Birmingham at the end of last season – but there have been shortcomings on the pitch when experience has been so clearly missed. And as with Real Madrid’s No.5 stepping unexpectedly into the No.9 role in Karim Benzema’s absence, Jobe has been relegated to the front row at a club unwilling to spend seriously on a centre-back to replace Ross Stewart.
Jude (left) and Jobe Bellingham with their parents, Denise and Mark, in 2021 (David Davies/PA Photos via Getty Images)
Jobe’s versatility has been remarkable and, in the long run, instructive. Asked recently about his position choice, he said: “At the moment I’m just learning because I have no idea what position I am.
“I guess it’s quite exciting in a way because I’ll find out as the years go by. It’s up to the coaches to find out where my qualities fit best with the team and I’m not crazy as I actually play. As long as I’m wearing red and white, it’s fine.”
Sunderland fans will particularly enjoy the last part of the answer and hearing Dodds say “he’s fallen in love with the fans, with the area – he’s so happy with the decision he made last summer” will appeal.
“It’s a perfect club at a perfect time for him. This part of the world will forever be in his heart. He is absolutely in love and the Sunderland fans have been amazing with him.”
But the Jobe comparison in their collective consciousness is not with his brother, rather with his colleague Dan Neil. They saw Neil coming through his academy, hitting runs, then getting tired, and many were asking for a rest before Neil got one.
On Saturday, the latest edition of the long-running fan-favorite A Love Supreme, which was sold off Earth, featured an episode called ‘Hey Young Sunderland’. It says: “Speaking of players who have needed a break, Jobe Bellingham was in the engine room alongside Dan. The 18-year-old has been an almost ever-present in our team this season and everyone but the coaching staff is aware that he has been completely run into the ground.”
It then asked, “Is he playing because of his last name?
Sunderland will dismiss that and point out that Jobe was taken out of England’s age group to be rested. The Bellinghams may find it surprising – mother Denise lives with Jude in Madrid and father Mark lives with Jobe in Sunderland. They may find their younger son somehow living simultaneously in the shadows and in the limelight. Once again, even at the age of 20, Jude has experienced negative publicity in Madrid.
As with all ‘name’ players, praise and criticism tend to be excessive and Dodds said: ‘Jobes’ life is still tough.
“I don’t think anyone will really understand what it’s like to be Jobe. If he goes anywhere in the world, he is Jude’s brother, he is not Jobe.
“Having his own identity is something he desperately wants.” As he gets older and gets more accolades and he does wonderful things in football, he will be appreciated for who he is.
“He apparently changed the name on the back of his shirt, so he’s desperately fighting to get recognition for it. It’s always going to be a struggle for him, that’s the reality.”
Dodds said Sunderland helped Jobe recover “very quickly” and they “don’t talk about the brother stuff with him at all”.
And at Sunderland they worry about Sunderland. Jude’s appearance in a club scarf at Hull City to support his younger sibling is welcome, but on Wearside, if nowhere else in football, it is Jude who is ‘the other’ Bellingham.
And Jobe, everyone needs to remember, was 17 when the season started, a scholar sophomore.
(Top photo: MI News/NurPhoto)
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