'People talk rubbish': Jude Bellingham shuts Trent Alexander-Arnold's critics after England win

England superstar Jude Bellingham was full of praise for his midfield partner Trent Alexander-Arnold after the Three Lions kickstarted their Euro 2024 campaign with a 1-0 win against Serbia on Sunday (Jun 16).

Despite being spoiled for options in the middle of the park,England manager Gareth Southgate opted for Trent in the double-pivot alongside Declan Rice with Bellingham pushing up. Trent, whose natural position is right-back, managed to hold his own in the midfield and put up a tidy performance.

Speaking after the match, Bellingham, showing maturity beyond his age, made it a point to highlight Trent's contribution as the Liverpool player made the position switch at the biggest of stages.

"He makes it so easy for me because he can control the game so well defensively in that position. I know people talk a lot of rubbish but he's so aggressive with that back-to-goal pressure and it really helped me as well because it meant I got a breather when he went out," said Bellingham.

“I think we understand each other well with the ball, he wants to play positive all the time, he wants to play forward all the time. We accept as team-mates who have that kind of quality that we are going to lose the ball and that's fine. We will win it back for each other and we will keep playing. I thought he was brilliant," he added.

Southgate echoes similar sentiments

Bellingham came to Trent's defence at a time when former players such as Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane, and Gary Neville have criticised the Liverpool player'sinclusionin the playing XI as a midfielder.

Southgate echoed Bellingham's sentiments and said the midfield experiment with Trent was a success.

“Good. I have to say he’s been really diligent in getting his positioning right.Obviously Jude goes forward a lot, so I thought Trent adapted and adjusted to his positioning really well. Used the ball well, obviously had a really good effort on goal," said Southgate.

England led through a superb header from Bellingham in the 13th minute and dominated the first half by pinning the Serbian side inside their own half.

However, the second half saw England lose control as the Serbians increased the pressure but could not land the sucker punch due to lack of quality in the final third.

(With inputs from agencies)