So, that crisis lasted about three months! Jude Bellingham was in massive trouble, so we were told. The goalscorer, who was never really a goalscorer, had stopped scoring goals. it took Bellingham until November 9 to find the net for the first time for Real Madrid this season. And after a poor run of results - that had little to do with his individual performances - the "overrated" rhetoric was in full swing. The one-season-wonder badge was thrown around. Jude who?
It was frighteningly easy to explain Bellingham's early-season struggles. He was playing further away from goal, in a revamped side, with more goalscorers in the team. This is not a formula for seeing the net ripple consistently. Either way, Bellingham is back - although he never really left. He has scored five in his last six games, and four in a row. The efficiency is there, as is the crucial swagger to his game. A 20-goal-per-season striker Bellingham is not, but there are echoes of his early days in a Madrid shirt.
And with Los Blancos coming off a crucial Champions League game, and the injuries piling up, his mojo couldn't have come back at a better time. There are many genres of Bellingham. The one that can score plenty is here, and Madrid will be all the better for it.