There is no question that Jude Bellingham is one of the best footballers in the world, and he's been worth every cent of the 100 million euros that Real Madrid spent in 2023 in order to bring him in from Borussia Dortmund.
After a more subdued start to the 2024/25 season by his incredulous standards as a Bundesliga AND La Liga Player of the Season winner - all before he turned 21 - Bellingham started to heat up a couple of months ago with the goals coming as thick and fast as they have come for striker Kylian Mbappe.
Bellingham delivered yet another big-game performance for the Merengues on Wednesday night at the Anoeta, cooking Real Sociedad to the tune of six key passes and more elite defensive work, with his matchw-inning through ball assist for Endrick proving to be the cherry on top.
For a man with no real weaknesses to his game, Bellingham has still given Carlo Ancelotti quite the conundrum tactically. Essentially, Bellingham is so good and so well-rounded that the tricky thing for Madrid is figuring out how to maximize him.
Real Madrid are trying to find the right balance with Jude Bellingham
Earlier in the season, Ancelotti used Bellingham almost as a utility player, occupying deeper and wider regions of the field as if he were a hybrid between a wing-back, box-to-box defensive midfielder and 8. Then, Ancelotti used him as a 10 again, just as he did last season, before finally shifting him into what appears to be a hybrid 8 and 10 role, switching off interior duties with a roving right winger.
Real Madrid is trying to figure out how to get the best of both worlds with Bellingham. As a 10 playing closer to goal, Bellingham offers the kind of goal-scoring that saw him nearly win the Pichichi Trophy in 2023/24 as a midfielder. He can impact games more directly with his close control and short-passing, interlinking with Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo Goes to devastating effect.
But if Real Madrid plays Bellingham deeper, he can be more of an orchestrator, collecting possession and progressing play by skipping past defenders before unleashing a killer ball that breaks the lines - or even directly creates the goal, as we saw on Wednesday night in the Copa del Rey. As more of an 8, Bellingham can get on the ball more frequently and offer more defensively, which has a holistic impact on the Real Madrid side.
At the same time, goals are king, and Real Madrid could still use them, especially against tougher opponents. La Liga defenders remain as stingy as ever, and even in Real's professional victory over Real Sociedad, they still had trouble finding the breakthrough, only scoring once with Bellingham performing more as a traditional midfielder.
So what's the best way to use Bellingham? The answer is both, dependent on matchup and game state. Against teams that sit back and are more defensive or in situations in the game in which Real are chasing a goal, they should play Bellingham aggressively as something between a 10 and a 9, urging him to get into the box and take more shots, rather than try to collect the ball. They can entrust Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Luka Modric, and even Fede Valverde in these capacities.
But in games in which Real Madrid have a dearth of actual midfield options due to injury or are struggling to impose themselves on the ball, having Bellingham, the world's best No. 8 (not just the best 10), can be what's needed to solidify the side tactically. He can still offer chance-creation when he plays deeper, but the additional energy, athleticism, and calmness on the ball can help Real Madrid right the ship in games in which they are not being as dominant as they should on the ball.