Data-driven Player of the Month: Jude Bellingham - A star performing far beyond his years

The young England international's performances in October have earned him the title of Player of the Month, as selected by data analysts from the Czech company 11Hacks. But what exactly makes him stand out?

In retrospect, it seems that it couldn't have been any other way. The first El Clasico of the season offered the fans a very balanced spectacle, both in terms of game control and the number and quality of chances created.

Real Madrid, however, have Bellingham. The English phenomenon first equalised after an hour of play with a wonderful long-range effort and then turned the tide in injury time with a neat finish from just outside the box. That is, from the area which has recently become his second home. But more on that later.

During October alone, Bellingham scored six times across all competitions to take his tally to 13 goals in 1,126 minutes played this season for Real.

The high number of goals he scores is a direct result of his recent positional transformation in Spain. While in the Bundesliga, he alternated between the role of an eight and a defensive midfielder, after joining Real he adapted immediately to the new competition, despite his duties on the pitch being significantly different right from the start.

That said, it's certainly not as if he can't perform his former roles very capably in his new home as well. In fact, his range of skills across the more defensive midfield positions was also impressive. This was especially true in the World Cup last year.

He was still a 19-year-old when he was starting in the number six position for Dortmund and was one of the best players in the Bundesliga. He averaged four active attempts to take the ball from an opponent per match and maintained a 90% success rate in those interventions.

Therefore, if he came up against an opponent, he deprived them of the ball nine times out of 10 in Germany.

In addition, according to advanced data models, he recovered the ball in important spaces, i.e. in situations where he stopped a dangerously developing attack or simply when the ball was close to his team's goal.

He gave the impression of a much more experienced and mature player on the field and maintained great results in patterns of play that showed great reading of the game, such as intercepted passes or blocked shots. In addition, he was very strong in on-ground duels despite the fact that his physical peak was still far ahead of him.

In addition to his great defensive decision-making, you must appreciate the huge impact he had on his team's play when he had possession of the ball.

He was able to move it into better spaces both with his own runs and with passes to his teammates, not only in the middle of the field but also in the final third, where his good movement allowed him to get regularly. This was true even in the parts of the season when he played a more defensive role.

His ability to take the ball, cross a large area of the pitch, drive into a more dangerous area and then set up a chance for a teammate or get into the final third himself was reflected in advanced data metrics, too.

According to the GPA+ (goal probability added) model, which maps all of a player's touches with the ball throughout the season and then calculates how much they increased his team's chances of scoring, he was the best player in the Bundesliga in his position.

Three different positions? No problem

Despite his success at Dortmund, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti had other plans for the €103 million signing. Right from the opening round of La Liga, he seemed to send a clear signal to the world - this was a new Real Madrid.

The role of the defensive midfielder rests on the shoulders of Aurelien Tchouameni, while Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga are the other emerging midfield talents with whom icon Toni Kroos alternates as the team's number eights.

And Bellingham? Well, in a 4-4-2 formation, he is positioned at the top of a midfield diamond, where he often acts essentially as a forward rather than a number ten. He makes runs like a striker, makes similar shots to one and finishes like one.

Bellingham has taken care of 26% of Real's expected goals so far (among players over 450 minutes), the second-highest share behind striker Joselu. He is currently on 30%. Far behind them are wingers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. Bellingham's 0.45 expected goals per game is the best among offensive midfielders in La Liga. He produces 2.3 shots at the opposition's goal per game and maintains an average of one goal per game.

Of the 24 attempts he has recorded so far, he has fired 19 times from inside the box, the vast majority of them from central areas, often on the edge of the box and in four cases just inside it.

Although Bellingham doesn't take set pieces, he sends a huge volume of passes into the box and is among the top 25% of central midfielders in the expected assists metric. He also performs great in models evaluating the overall contribution of passing to team functioning.

And, as in the Bundesliga, the same is true of his running and dribbling. He not only uses his excellent movement in the opponent's penalty area, but also in the midfield, where he regularly breaks the opponent's lines after winning the ball and, not surprisingly, is one of the most fouled players in the league.

Bellingham has clearly shown over the last 15 months that he can deliver elite performances in three distinct positions, something completely unprecedented in modern football. Not only does he possess a unique skill set but, by all accounts, he also possesses high mental toughness and leadership skills.

On the pitch, he gives the impression of being a player in his prime footballing years and it is therefore easy to forget that he is in fact only 20.