Jude Bellingham the only England player ‘in form’ as Gary Neville demands ‘more’ from ‘disappointed’ Three Lions

England secured their progression to the knockout rounds with a 2-0 victory over Panama on Saturday night, but the performance did little to silence the critics. Goals from Bellingham and Harry Kane ensured the Three Lions finished top of Group L, setting up a last-32 clash in Atlanta on Wednesday against DR Congo.

Neville was quick to single out Bellingham as the solitary bright spark in an otherwise disjointed side. Speaking to ITV, the former United defender said: "Absolutely, [Bellingham is England's best player]. He’s the one player who looks like he’s in form, he’s the one player who looks like he’s fresh. He’s sharp, he’s lively, he’s played at the level you would expect. These players have set a standard getting to finals and semi-finals over the last few years."

The defensive stability of the side has come under scrutiny, particularly with the absence of Declan Rice in the final group game. Neville highlighted that Panama found it too easy to breach the England backline, warning that stronger nations will not be as forgiving in the upcoming rounds.

"In Thomas Tuchel’s interview he said, 'we’ll step up in bigger games', they’re going to have to," Neville added. "I don’t think he’ll be looking at the analysis with his coaching staff and think everything’s perfect now. We’ve got to get together in the next four days, we’ve got to get Declan Rice back in the team, we’ve got to get the back four more solid, it looked like they [Panama] cut through us a few times, they didn’t have the quality to punish us but they’re going to have to step up."

Neville also suggested that the success of previous tournaments has created a high bar that the current crop is struggling to meet consistently, leading to a feeling of dissatisfaction despite the Three Lions achieving their primary objective of winning the group.

"There are times I’ve been with England where we haven’t got out of the group, there are many times where we’ve not finished top and finished second and ended up with a nightmare run towards the quarter final," Neville noted. "It’s probably the most disappointed we’ve ever been with topping the group. The reason for that is these players have set such a standard over the last few years in terms of tournaments that we’re just thinking we want more from them, we want more from Bellingham, we want more from [Morgan] Rogers, we want more from [Marcus] Rashford, that needs to come now."

While Neville focused on the team's balance, Ian Wright addressed the criticism directed at Bellingham’s demeanor. Some have perceived the midfielder's immense self-belief as arrogance, but the Arsenal legend insisted that this confidence is exactly what makes the 22-year-old a special talent for his country.

"I can’t understand it, I’ve always backed him and what he’s done and that’s going off what I’ve seen him do," Wright said. "The fact he’s got a lot of confidence, people interpret it as arrogance but he’s somebody who when you watch him, whoever he’s playing against, I remember watching him against New Zealand and Costa Rica, he’s exactly the same, he’s going for it, wants to do the best he can, he wants to put the team on his shoulders and run with it and he relishes it."