Jude Bellingham wants to "be part of the action in front of goal" | OneFootball

Jude Bellingham has been playing for Borussia Dortmund for almost two years after coming to the Ruhr from Birmingham as a 17-year-old in 2020. He took stock in a media round.

Jude Bellingham was ruled out of only two games this season: He missed one game due to knee problems and another due to suspension. When the 18-year-old has been fit, he has played, usually for the entire duration of the game. The midfielder has played a total of 3706 minutes (with one game left in the season). That is almost 1000 minutes more than in his debut season for BVB, when the teenager already showed some remarkable performances during the course of the 2020/21 season.

"When I joined the club, I was the new kid on the block, the young talent. I liked that because I didn't feel like I was under pressure. The first season went well," Bellingham recalls. "That season I played a lot more. I had a bigger impact on the opposition goal and a bigger presence on the pitch. The club encouraged me, and a lot of the credit goes to the coach and staff."

Bellingham finished the 2020-21 season with four goals and four assists, and now he is already on six goals and 13 assists. "I feel most comfortable playing as a number eight as a box-to-box midfielder and having a bigger impact on the opposition goal," Bellingham said of his preferred position on the pitch. "When I'm playing as a number six, a defensive midfielder, I can dictate the tempo of the game, but when we're creating chances and shooting on goal, I'm a bit far away. I'd rather be part of the action."

His second year at BVB was his first under coach Marco Rose. "This year was like an adjustment year to the new coach, his coaching staff and the style of play they want to implement. Some players were used to different styles of play from other coaches," Bellingham said of the past few months. "We also picked up a lot of injuries in key parts of the season. But if you look at the big games, we didn't deliver. We believe that next year will be better and that we will be a better team then. In the Bundesliga we showed some good performances and scored a lot of goals. Now it's about consistency." The England international wants to learn from the past season. And he's already looking forward to the upcoming season: "Even though we still have one game left, I can't wait for it to start again."

Christina Reinke