Micah Richards has ridiculed Alan Shearer for suggesting Jude Bellingham should have been left out of England's starting XI prior to the World Cup. The debate over England's ideal No.10 raged in the build-up to the tournament, with Morgan Rogers, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, and Bellingham all vying for the shirt. However, Foden and Palmer were omitted from Thomas Tuchel's squad, and Bellingham has cemented his place as one of the first names on the team sheet with a series of magnificent displays, including three man-of-the-match showings.
Bellingham's heroics in Mexico
In a classic last-16 clash at the iconic Azteca, the 23-year-old Real Madrid superstar scored twice in two minutes to put England in the ascendancy against co-hosts Mexico. Despite Jarell Quansah's sending-off, Tuchel's men produced a famous 3-2 victory, with Harry Kane's second-half penalty proving decisive. England will now face Norway in the quarter-finals at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.
Richards praises England performance
“Now we’re cooking!” ex-England defender Richards said on The Rest Is Football. “Honestly, England were outstanding. In that first half, all the things we talked about on the podcast from the start, in terms of being dynamic, in terms of having that cohesion, in terms of being aggressive and really believing in themselves. I thought they showed everything from start to finish. Obviously in the second half it was more about that togetherness, commitment and tactical nous from Thomas Tuchel, who we’ve mentioned many times in terms of in-game substitutions.”
Richards believed Quansah was “a little bit unfortunate” to receive a red card for a foul on Jesus Gallardo, but was “absolutely delighted” with the team's response. “I just thought everything in the game was perfect, although, obviously, Jarell Quansah got sent off,” he said. “I thought he was a little bit unfortunate, he got the ball but then it was the follow-through so I understand why he had to get a red card. All in all, I’m just absolutely delighted for them because it feels as if we’ve been waiting for that moment and we knew they had it in them.”
Richards takes aim at Shearer
Richards then turned his attention to Bellingham's latest heroics, poking fun at Shearer for his pre-tournament comments. “Alan didn’t want to start Jude in the tournament. Now look at him! Who else? Who else?!” Richards said. “He’s constantly in the WhatsApp group talking about, ‘Well I called this team, I called that team!’, but he wasn’t starting Jude! I look at him now… eh? Who else?!”
Gordon praised for key role
Richards also singled out Anthony Gordon for special praise. The Barcelona summer signing bounced back from a slow start to play a central role in the Mexican capital. “He was brilliant and I feel as though he needed that performance because there’s been a lot of talk about him and Marcus Rashford, who should start and who should come on,” Richards said. “That pressure of joining Barcelona comes with all this expectation and it sometimes can be difficult to deal with that when you’re playing for a team and not getting as many headlines. All the headlines coming into the tournament was about who is going to start – Rashford or Gordon? – and up until this moment he’s not really produced his best stuff. But tonight he was brilliant! The way he wanted to take people on, the way he wanted to press, the way he got the penalty… everything about his game was dynamic.”
