da betsul： The midfielder's pointed reaction was reminiscent of how the NBA legend used tiny details for motivation, but the Three Lions are hiding from reality

da wazamba： With his stunning acrobatic goal to save England from humiliation against Slovakia in the 95th minute, Jude Bellingham became a member of football's unofficial overhead-kick hall of fame, joining the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. But as he sat in his press conference after England had sneaked into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, he resembled Michael Jordan.

Jordan was the most compelling athlete of his generation, and 17 years after retirement, he rose back to prominence via 'The Last Dance', the docuseries charting his incredible career. Helped by the world being locked in their homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the show was a smash hit. It quickly became 's most popular programme of all time with 5.5 million viewers per episode in the United States, while another 23.8 million worldwide watched it on .

Jordan's role in leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships was the main storyline, but the most interesting aspect of the show was how it revealed his single-minded mentality. Jordan used even the tiniest little details as fuel to get better and better and to continue humiliating his rivals.

From Sonics coach George Karl not saying hello to him at dinner to Charles Barkley or Karl Malone being voted as MVP at his expense, Jordan became motivated for revenge every step of the way. He was on a one-man mission to monster his rivals and show that he was the very best, and he sure achieved that goal.

The show spawned the iconic "And I took that personally" meme, although, for the record, Jordan never uttered those words. The phrase he actually used was: "It became personal with me." For opponents such as Byron Russell or LaBradford Smith who trash-talked him, he would say "He was on my list" or "I hated him".

Bellingham mimicked the 'I'm him' phenomenon that has been sweeping the NBA in the last couple of years when he shouted 'Who else?' after rescuing England from the abyss. He had a vindictive look to him as he ran to the England fans behind the goal and put his fingers to his ear, suggesting supporters and pundits alike have been talking too much.

GettyThrowing it back

Bellingham continued on the same theme as he faced the media in the press room of the Veltins Arena. He said: "You hear people talk a lot of rubbish. It's nice when you can deliver and give them a little bit back. For me, football, being on the pitch, scoring goals and celebrating is my release. Maybe it was a message to a few people."

Asked what he meant by the rubbish, Bellingham channeled his inner Jordan again. "You know what I mean by the rubbish. People talk a lot. You do have to take it personally a little bit," he said.

"We work so hard at this game. We come in every day, we work hard to put on a performance for the fans. Sometimes it doesn't go well and sometimes it feels like there's a bit of a pile on, it's not nice to hear. But you can always use it and for moments like that, it's nice to throw it back to some people."

AdvertisementGettyUsing criticism positively

Bellingham is not the first England player at Euro 2024 to complain about the reaction of the media, and in particular players -turned-pundits. Last week, Harry Kane urged the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker to "remember what it's like to wear the shirt" while Declan Rice called for "some positivity" to lift the players.

But Bellingham, in following Jordan's lead, responded to criticism in the perfect way, pulling off a clutch moment that underlined his greatness. It would have been easy to shrink amid the whirlwind of criticism or the booing of England fans inside the stadium, or indeed the sight of supporters leaving the stadium before the full-time whistle.

The goal was another illustration that Bellingham is different from the rest of his England team-mates. He may have been riled by the media, but he rose to the challenge, seeking to prove his doubters wrong. And if he wants to keep finding more fuel from his critics, then he will not have to look very far.

Getty ImagesGetting worse

Because leaving aside his moment of magic, Bellingham was woeful against Slovakia, as he has been since his bright tournament-opening display against Serbia. And so were the rest of the England team, save for the final two minutes of added time and the first minute of extra-time, when they had their only two shots on target, Kane proving the pinball wizard after a frantic piece of play following a free-kick to seal victory.

After taking the lead, England retreated to their usual tactic, sitting deep and looking scared, playing hopeful long balls and not getting runners in behind. And that is why they are being criticised.

The reality is, England do not deserve to still be in the tournament. They made an unconvincing start against Serbia, but their stuttering curtain-raiser has proved to be their best performance.

Things have gotten steadily worse since, and it is no wonder that pundits are criticising them while fans are getting restless. How else should the media respond to a tournament in which they have won just one game after 90 minutes and scored less than one goal per 90 minutes on average, all while facing no team ranked within the top 20 in the world?

Getty ImagesFully justified

Jordan had to go looking for tiny things to motivate him to keep on winning because his Bulls team were already the prominent side in the NBA. But this England team, despite their talent and experience, are still yet to show up in Germany. And Bellingham's comments, as do Kane and Rice's, feed into the feeling that England are getting too sensitive to criticism that is fully justified.

While it is right that Bellingham has used the criticism to inspire him, he cannot make the mistake of thinking everything is fine and dandy. Because if England keep up their ponderous style of play against Switzerland, who outclassed deposed tournament holders Italy and came within a minute of beating Germany, then they will get found out and sent home.

Far from "talking rubbish", as the Real Madrid midfielder suggested, the media are pointing out England's shortcomings in the hope that they will listen up and iron out their many problems. Gareth Southgate, however, sounded delusional when he insisted: "I never felt like tonight would be the end of our tournament."

It was only because of an act of sheer quality from Bellingham that England are not already back home, and blind faith will not be enough to take them any further in Germany.