Terry Butcher warns England’s players to step up and help ease the burden on Jude Bellingham

Former England captain Terry Butcher heaped praise on Jude Bellingham but warned his team-mates must step up to help ease the burden on the Real Madrid star.

Bellingham produced a man of the match performance in England’s win against Serbia as he headed home the only goal of the game to give Gareth Southgate’s side a winning start to Euro 2024.

England are viewed as one of the favourites for the tournament given the quality of talent they have available, but it’s yet to all come together at a tournament.

Butcher warns Bellingham’s team-mates to step up

Whilst Bellingham shone on the international stage following his incredible season at Real Madrid, Manchester City’s Phil Foden struggled to impose himself on the game, whilst Harry Kane had just two touches in the first half.

Despite a winning start there are still plenty of questions for Southgate to answer heading into the Denmark game, and he will be looking to dispel accusations England are becoming reliant on Bellingham.

Butcher who represented England at three World Cups was full of praise for Bellingham, but warned his team-mates they need to step up to ease the burden on the 20-year-old.

“He was so impressive,” Butcher told Metro.

“Especially given the way he settled back into the England team considering he didn’t play in the friendlies leading into the competition.

“He has had a stellar season and seems to get better and better.

“My only concern is international teams now look at him and think, if you can stop Jude Bellingham, you can stop England.

“The others, Foden, Saka, Kane and others need to step up but they have the ability to do that.”

England are back in action on Thursday against Denmark knowing victory will see them qualify for the knockout stages.

Whilst it was a winning start which is the most important thing there were worrying signs that England were repeating mistakes of previous tournaments by sitting back and inviting pressure onto themselves.

You can get away with it against the lesser teams, but against the top sides playing like that will result in being punished, so will be interesting to see if England alter their style as the tournament progresses.

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