GRAEME SOUNESS: Jude Bellingham has all the attributes to be one of the greats… and that is a term I use very rarely

I rarely give the description ‘great player’ and you will know very well by now that I am particularly critical of midfielders when it comes to midfielders.

But I say without hesitation that Jude Bellingham could be in that category. He has the physical attributes and technical skills of Zinedine Zidane – for me one of the best players to have graced Real Madrid’s midfield – but only time will tell if he reaches those heights. His potential seems limitless.

I had never seen Bellingham in real life until I was in Hampden for England’s game against Scotland on Tuesday. But as I stood in the middle of the field before kick-off, 20 or 30 yards away from him, as part of Channel 4’s analysis team, I could see that he has greater physicality than I did at his age. I didn’t fill it out until I was 22 or 23. Bellingham, at 20 years old, already looks like a finished article, but that physical development isn’t even complete yet.

I was on the big side of the midfielders when I played, although today I would be average size looking at some of the players now.

But while they can assess players’ quads, lungs, hearts, and beep test data in great detail, can you please show me the monitor that shows what’s going on in a player’s head when the going gets tough. Of course there is none, although that is still the most important asset you can possess as a person and as a footballer. It’s certainly one that Bellingham has in abundance.

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His game has many dimensions. It is a ground cover plant. He has fantastic technique. He has a wise football head on young shoulders, with years of experience that still needs to be built up. He’s got that physique.

But the ability to see three or four steps ahead, something that only the best players have, is special. He has all the qualities to become one of the greats of the game.

Let me explain this by painting the scene during a coaching session. The average player receives the ball, then raises his head and decides what to do with it. They don’t play the game in their heads.

The good players always know what they are going to do with the ball before it arrives. They’ve played that football passage in their heads. And then there are the big players, who are not just one step ahead, but two or three.

According to testimony Tuesday night, Bellingham is in the latter group. He wears the number 5 for Real Madrid and took the 10 shirt for England, but the number doesn’t matter.

It pains me to say that I found Scotland very tame. It wasn’t really a test for England. I definitely want to see Bellingham tested against the best. But he still benefited from a much more intelligent use of his talents than we had seen against Ukraine a few days earlier.

In that first game, he got too far up the field as the play developed and ended up getting balls with his back to where he wanted to go.

I don’t think that suits him at all. He can handle things better. Unlike James Maddison, who is more than happy to play with his back to goal and get in and around the opponent’s penalty area on the half turn.

I don’t think England need to use two midfielders as Bellingham has the energy and athleticism to get involved further up the pitch and then get themselves back into the defensive midfield shape very quickly if it breaks down. Declan Rice can fill the space behind him if he goes.

I’d have Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden playing alongside Rice and Bellingham, with Maddison ahead of them and Harry Kane up top. I’m sure Kane would love to play with Maddison, who is the best provider of that great passing, scores goals and isn’t afraid to do the hard work defensively.

It baffles me that Gareth Southgate is still operating with the handbrake when he is blessed with so much depth in the areas that are hardest to find: creative and goal-scoring players.

For all their dominance, England had just 20 touches in Scotland’s penalty area and five shots on target. That’s not enough for this team, with the talent and creative players they are blessed with. These figures tell us that England did not get nearly enough supply for their strikers. Southgate needs to show more adventure and utilize his great attacking assets.

Bellingham is a player anyone would want on their team. I know I would. Not only does he try to rush forward and cause chaos at every opportunity, but he also sprints back to defensive form when his team loses the ball.

He and Rice could form a partnership in the English midfield in the coming decade. Although as a proud Scot it saddens me to say this, they can make England a very strong power in the years to come.

Maguire is a victim of United’s fate, he does not deserve this abuse

I will say outright that Harry Maguire would make the vast majority of Premier League teams.

Apart from a woefully unlucky own goal against Scotland recently, I don’t know what he has done wrong to deserve further abuse and ridicule.

Basically he is a very good football player. Yes, he has limitations. He’s not the fastest. But he is an experienced centre-back – one of the better ones with the ball at his feet – who should continue to improve as he can read and sense things, as centre-halves do in their later years.

The way center halves play today – being asked to make passes inside and on the edge of the penalty area – will make mistakes.

Maguire put in a good performance against Scotland even though we have to assume there is no confidence because he will be aware of what people say about him. Scot Lyndon Dykes did not win a single header when he came on after an hour. But abuse seems to be Maguire’s fate and I just hope he has people around him to help him keep his head above water.

He is a victim of where Manchester United are now. United fans are clearly an unhappy bunch as they can see how far they are from City winning a Premier League title or Champions League any time soon.

I disagree with the view that Gareth Southgate somehow fanned the flames of abuse with his strong support for Maguire. If you don’t support him, how does that come across to the rest of the group? Southgate looks at the bigger picture.

As a manager you try to create an ‘us against the world’ mentality – something Fergie did with great success – and Gareth wants to create that mentality with this England squad. He had to speak out against this abuse, which is an unfathomable symptom of our times.

Liverpool is Man City’s biggest challenger

I will make a bold statement about the Premier League race, which resumes today: Liverpool will finish first or second this season.

I see a stronger Liverpool. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai appear to understand the demands of playing for the club.

Our football needs a challenge to Manchester City’s dominance and Liverpool can provide that. They pose the biggest threat to Pep Guardiola who is winning four titles on the trot.