Off-key Bellingham should be England's cause for concern - opinion

The talented 20-year-old looked to be carrying on his form having won the Champions League and La Liga after a stunning first season at Real Madrid.

But a further two games in, that moment currently stands as Bellingham and England's high point in Germany so far.

The Three Lions were confirmed as Group C winners on Tuesday after a drab goalless draw with Slovenia, which followed an equally limp stalemate against Denmark.

The mood has turned quite drastically with a multitude of problems cropping up for Gareth Southgate and surprisingly, Bellingham's performances are one of them.

His struggles to put a stamp on things were first brought up against Denmark, but Southgate remained loyal and retained him in the number 10 role behind Harry Kane for the Slovenia match.

The move did not pay off and the statistics paint quite an alarming picture.

Zero shots, zero chances created, zero tackles and just one successful pass into the final third.

But most concerning for the midfielder was his lack of sharpness on the ball, losing possession 16 times.

Bellingham is never one to shy away from demanding the ball and he wanted to be proactive, but nothing seemed to come off for him.

A lot of his passes could be classified as 'safe' ones, while most of his progressive ones were off the mark.

His frustrations grew and it was an odd thing to see given how much of a confident player he often portrays himself as.

It was very clear that a lost-looking Bellingham was having a poor game, yet Southgate elected to keep him on and give him the full 90 minutes.

Obviously, Bellingham isn't the only England player to have looked off-key or underperformed at Euro 2024 to this point.

Much has been said about the impact of the aforementioned Kane and his role, Phil Foden's ineffectiveness on the left wing and Kieran Trippier's limitations as a right-footed left-back.

There are big issues dotted across the pitch but Bellingham's way-below-standard displays could be England's most concerning.

He isn't connecting well enough with the midfielders and forwards and in such a focal position, there doesn't appear to be much balance and attacks are essentially fizzling out.

That makes the argument to drop Bellingham back deeper into midfield more compelling which could solve a few more problems.

The shift would then allow Foden to slot into his favoured, more productive place centrally which would then open up a spot for Anthony Gordon on the left.

Is that likely to happen? Southgate is usually unflappable and rigid in his ways, but England need some kind of spark with knockout football a different type of contest.

It does seem a bit bizarre that this is even a topic of discussion regarding Bellingham, who has shown plenty of times already in his young career that he can turn it on at any moment.

He will get another opportunity in the last 16, but it's just a matter of seizing his chance.