Brilliant Jude Bellingham the greatest beneficiary of tweaked England system

It was supposed to be a gritty Group B opener against a well-drilled, stubborn Iran team renowned for their defensive discipline and low block. The kind of opponents England have struggled to dispatch at major tournaments before.

Instead, England turned on the style at the Khalifa International Stadium, carving through the Iranian rearguard to win 6-2.

And it was all started by Jude Bellingham.

The Borussia Dortmund midfielder's towering header broke the deadlock in Doha in the first half and that opened the floodgates for the Three Lions, who had scored another four times by the 71st minute.

Bukayo Saka impressed with a brace, both of England's full-backs Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw looked comfortable and Harry Kane demonstrated how effective he can be as a creative outlet, holding the ball up and dropping deeper to take possession and bring more players into the game.

But it was 19-year-old Bellingham who was at the heart of everything England did well, despite having not even made his Championship debut when the last World Cup kicked off in Russia four and a half years ago.

As well as becoming England's second-youngest goalscorer in World Cup history after Michael Owen, Bellingham played a role in the team's third and sixth goals in Doha, consistently driving forwards from midfield and creating openings.

But the Dortmund man was also happy to drop back when needed and enjoyed 113 touches in the game - only defenders Shaw, John Stones and Trippier saw more of the ball against Iran.

He is an archetypal box-to-box midfielder, something England have arguably been lacking in tournaments gone by and a style of player which would have not been as impactful in previous systems adopted by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.

At Euro 2020, for example, England played in a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 formation against stronger opponents such as Germany and Italy with Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice playing through the middle.

And while both are top midfielders with bright futures ahead of them, the pair play in a similar way, both often content shielding England's defence.

Fast forward to Monday, though, and Southgate appeared to have listened to the criticism he has got for playing it safe, going with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system with more attacking impetus to it.

Yes, it was 'only' Iran. And yes, Southgate is likely to revert to a more cautious system to shield England's questionable defence in the latter stages of the tournament.

But the proof was in the pudding. The system saw Rice act as the sole defensive midfielder with Bellingham given licence to roam and dictate the tempo of the match.

Indeed, Liverpool fans would have cringed a little at the realisation that Bellingham's value was going up a little more with every fine pass he played or Iran attack he curtailed.

There will be far fiercer opponents to come than Iran in Qatar and fans should not get too carried away by one result.

And given the vulnerability of the Three Lions defence, it would be wrong to label Bellingham as the final piece of the jigsaw - there are still a couple of other pieces to find.

But Bellingham was the greatest beneficiary of this shift in system and is unlike any other player in England's 26-man squad.

He has been doing it in Dortmund all season long but showed in the space of 90 minutes in Doha why he is considered by many to be a generational talent and one of the best young players in world football.

It remains to be seen how far England can go at this World Cup but you can bet if they do go deep, Bellingham will have played a pivotal role.

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