Former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player Luis Garcia talks about the young footballer who has become one of the biggest stars in the sport.
Being a young athlete nowadays comes with many perks, and among the biggest ones is the fact that social media and other online platforms make learning more accessible than ever. Learning materials, training tips, and many other resources are now quite literally at our fingertips, but sometimes, with the overload of information available, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Lucky for us, though, there are pros who can use their own experiences to help guide us in the right direction.
When we got the chance to meet Luis Garcia, a former winger who played for some of the world’s biggest football clubs including Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona, at The Legends Asian Tour in Manila, he gave us some tips based on his experiences as a professional that could help out a lot of young Filipino footballers.
Among his top tips, he highlighted one current LaLiga player whom he believes every young football player should watch and learn from: Jude Bellingham.
“He has impressed us all,” Luis Garcia says. “I think he is one of those players who every kid should watch.”
Watch and learn from Jude
Jude Bellingham is currently one of the biggest names in football, and he is only 20 years old. Ever since he moved to Spanish giant Real Madrid, he has been at the forefront of the team’s attack. As of writing, he has scored 12 goals in 14 matches in LaLiga alone.
But, it isn’t just his numbers and goalscoring capabilities that people are quick to praise. Luis Garcia tells us what other aspects of Jude’s game make him so special.
“First of all, he is a respectful player, the way he addresses the press, he respects his teammates, he respects his opponents and the referees. You don’t see him complaining to a lot of referees.
“Second of all, [it is] because of the way he plays. He’s a very intelligent player, he knows exactly what he is doing. His football intelligence is magnificent, he’s so technical, and every decision he makes on the field is fantastic. Working hard, that’s not something you see very often, right? Sometimes you just want to have the ball, but when they don’t have the ball, they don’t work. So I think he gets every single aspect that a good football player should have.”
Luis’ glowing comments on Jude Bellingham mirror many analyses on the 20-year-old you’ll find online, and this is because his performances on the pitch speak for themselves.
Nacho Monreal, who also used to play in LaLiga for Real Sociedad, even gave his two cents on the player, saying that Jude might be the best player in the league since the legendary Lionel Messi.
“What can I say about Lionel Messi? He’s one of the best players in the world, and now he’s not playing in LaLiga, but we have Jude Bellingham…We knew him when he was a top player, but we didn’t expect his performance, how he’s playing, how he understands football, his commitment — he has everything and he’s doing an amazing job.”
So for any young football player out there, these former LaLiga stars have made their case. If there’s one player you should be watching and learning from, it’s Jude Bellingham.
Images courtesy of LaLiga.
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