James Copley: The Jobe Bellingham online hate is lazy, wrong – and completely missing the point

There’s a strange take doing the rounds online from fans of rival clubs: that Jobe Bellingham is one of the most overrated players in Championship history.

Let that sink in. A teenager with 116 senior appearances under his belt before the age of 20, a key cog in Sunderland’s midfield in multiple roles, and a standout performer in a play-off final at Wembley, being described as “overrated”. You have to wonder what some people are watching. Or if they’re watching at all.

The lazy narrative is predictable. “He’s only rated because of his name.” Yes, that name, Bellingham. But anyone who’s actually watched Jobe will know how ridiculous this is. If anything, sharing a surname with his Real Madrid superstar brother has harmed his reputation among casual fans and opposition supporters, who are too quick to brand him a “nepo player” without ever paying attention to his game. If Jobe’s surname was Smith, would we be having this conversation? Probably not. But Sunderland fans have known how good the youngster his for a long while now.

This isn’t opinion... it is fact, rooted in statistics

But let’s talk facts. Sunderland believed in Jobe enough to sign him for a seven-figure fee as a 17-year-old. He wasn’t eased in, he was thrown into the deep end in one of the most competitive leagues in World football. Since then, he’s played as a six, an eight, a ten and even as a makeshift striker during the club’s well-documented crisis up top. Sink or swim? He swam. Jobe was trusted because he deserved to be. Because he earned it. Not once did he complain. Not once did he go missing.

Still think he’s all name and no substance? Let’s take a look at the numbers. Last season, Jobe ranked in the top 6.6% of Championship midfielders for ball recoveries, with a mammoth 221. He also won 236 duels, putting him in the top five per cent of players in his position within in the second tier. This isn’t a guy shirking responsibility, it’s one doing the dirty work, over and over again.

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His defensive game is elite for his age, high block and interception numbers confirm that. But what separates Jobe from your average midfield grafter is what he does next. He ranked in the top 3% for successful dribbles, driving Sunderland up the pitch with purpose and precision from midfield. His long-ball accuracy of 65.6% puts him among the Championship’s leaders, not just accurate, but progressive.

And let’s not forget his 47 chances created in the Championship last season, elite numbers for a midfielder whose primary role wasn’t creating. He’s not perfect. Nobody’s pretending he is. He can become more consistent with his final product, he can grow physically and aerially. But show me a 19-year-old in world football who doesn’t have development ahead of them.

This is a kid who’s represented England at every level from under-16 to under-21. He’s been identified by some of the best coaching staff in the country. And now he’s about to move to Borussia Dortmund in a multi-million pound deal, the same club that helped launch the likes of Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland. But yes, of course, your man on social media must be right, they’re all wrong and Jobe’s a “hype job”.

Maybe try watching him a little more closely. And if you still don’t rate him after that? Maybe the problem isn’t Jobe Bellingham. Maybe the problem is that you don’t understand football.

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