Somehow A Football Fan

morgan was actually a really talented cricket player! there were times when his semi finals/finals for cricket were the same time as youth west brom games and he would miss them for cricket. he played cricket because his dad got him into it but his true love was football. 🏏

they always both felt that they were the top performers in their age group which is why they got close. they also share the same attitude and outlook on a lot of things because of where they grew up and they're very proud of it!

they now have a mural dedicated to them eating 'orange chips', a west midlands delicacy. and they both are going to receive the 'freedom of dudley’ honour from the local borough council. 🍟

morgan feels as though theyve ‘come full circle’ after taking different paths to get to where they are now: ‘it’s a really nice feeling’ 🔁

jude likes that morgan is easy to get along with and can talk to anyone. he really admires that he has always played football the way he wants to play it/thinks it should be played and that he hasn't changed that as long as jude has known him.

though, he says he can sometimes be loud which morgan says he was ‘waiting for’ lol and that sometimes their debates turn into arguments (because they're both so strongwilled and stubborn!) 😠

Jude and Morgan's roles at the World Cup🏆

coming into this world cup camp, tuchel made it very clear that jude and morgan are playing for the same position. but jude makes sure to say that he has no ‘ill feelings’ when morgan is picked to play over him.

according to jude, the west midlands way is to support anyone who clearly has the talent to help them achieve what they're capable to do - so thats what he and morgan do for each other. 🤝

morgan was also constantly been asked about jude in the media. he said:

 "It’s easier to not to play when your best friend is playing instead… because I want him to do well. Because it's him, everythings fine."

"I wish it wasnt a rivalry if I'm honest… we’re really close... We spend pretty much all our time together... We always have each others’ back."

despite this the british media was set on pitting them against each other coming into the world cup! 💥

Jude and Morgan's relationship❤

when asked what attributes they'd like to take from one another, morgan says football-wise that he'd love jude's ability to switch to be a completely different type of player (forward/mid/defence) on a given day and explains in great detail what he means.

when he's done (“you cant teach that”) jude pats his leg in thanks, visibly flattered and a bit emotional. “that was lovely, honestly that was getting me.” so cute 🥹

(gif by @gyokereze)

morgan also admires jude’s resilience when games arent going his way and jude’s ‘puffing the chest out’ and that ‘come with me, team on my back’ element. ‘he’s gonna have the final say 9 times out of 10.’ 💬

jude says he has something a bit similar for morgan! he admires his ‘unshakable confidence’ and that he looks like a ‘superstar’ and ‘knows what he’s doing' on the pitch. ⭐

he appreciates how morgan pulls so many aspects of the game together. as well as his ‘dippy’ finishing technique. jude compares it to marco reus - his old captain at dortmund! this is very high praise from jude.

after this segment of the interview is done, they're immediately all like:

Jude: "Thats all I'll say and I'll never say it again." Morgan: "We dont speak like this normally." Jude: "This is like therapy." Morgan: "Normally we’re battering each other."

this probably explains jude's genuine reaction!! ofc these british boys don't share their feelings. this definitely plays into their dynamic ship-wise, i feel. also, protective+supportive boyfriends on the pitch <3

(gifs by @gyokereze)

jude loves to rib morgan about him and cole having the same celebration (it was morgan’s originally but cole popularised it). so when they're asked who's celebration is best, he jokes, ‘mine or coles? hmm' and acts as if he’s thinking hard while laughing. morgan jokingly says, ‘cut this right now, that comment.'

because they're absolutely besotted with each other, they end up picking each other's and the interviewer's like ‘you guys like each other a lot’ lol. 💞

another funny moment and perhaps my favourite frame from this entire interview is jude and morgan staring in disbelief as they learn that the nfl uses a different ball for kicking and normal plays, which jude says makes him respect them less. 🏈

this is a close second, them finding out that shaq wears size 22 shoes... these absolute twins!!!! 👟

another frame i love from where jude and morgan are joking that all jude needs is some pressure to be able to do anything lol. cuties! 😚

(gif by @gyokereze)

jude and morgan have combined on a goal and morgan says jude better say that was his best moment in an england shirt! jude jokes and says that's second, then he says that his favourite is actually senegal in the 2022 world cup!

‘thats the most fun i’ve ever had playing in an england team’ - aka the game where he and hendo were playing in midfield together!! and that his best moment was ‘probably setting up hendo in that game... it felt so good.'

Jude: "To set up hendo as well, was a huge thing, given how well we get along."

a reminder of their iconic celebration after this goal, in case anyone needed to be reminded of how homoerotic it was again 😇

my fave pics of them celebrating very, very similarly after going through to the semi finals! 🍟 is referencing their joint mural :))

Where does Hendo come into this?🧔‍♂️

the three of them have been noticeably close in camps since hendo's return to the squad under thomas tuchel. as we already know, jude looks up to hendo massively and thinks he’s amazing, and hendo pretty much took jude under his wing and thinks he's just as amazing too. when on lion's den, jude made sure to drop in the fact that:

"No england player’s been to more international tournaments than him. Unbelievable."

How did Morgan first meet Hendo?👀

it was hendo’s first england camp back after a while, morgan had been at the camp before, but this was their first time overlapping. he describes meeting hendo on lion's den (7:38):

"I think [Tuchel] asked us a question around on a whiteboard and he asked a question around of everyone in the squad, if you had a trouble who would you go to? And I didn't obviously know Hendo at the time. And once the answers came up, there was about 10-12 players that went Hendo. And Jude said to me, he's gone, 'You'll love him. Watch.' And then from that moment on, um yeah, we've kind of built up a really good relationship. But it started from that moment. I remember Jude telling me saying, ‘You you'll get on with him. You'll really like him. Trust me.’ … every camp’s just got stronger and stronger"

this all obviously had a huge impression on morgan, having one of his childhood friends endorse hendo so highly, as well as lots of the other england lads. and he just got closer and closer to him since 🥰 i loved this part:

Interviewer: "Relive one amazing day every year or skip a bad week every year?" Morgan: "Relive." Interviewer: "And what moment would you relive?" Morgan: "Meeting Hendo :)."

yes, he actually said that.

What do Jude and Morgan think of Hendo?👬

when the interviewer asks them to talk about their relationship with hendo, jude and morgan share a look say (15min):

Jude: "Pfft, don’t get us started on Hendo. We could speak about Hendo for hours." Morgan: ‘Best guy I think I’ve ever come across in football."

it's just instantly clear that they think sooo, so highly of hendo - and they haven't even really gotten started yet! when the interviewer says people were doubting hendo being selected for the wc, both jude and morgan immediately shake their heads like they can’t even fathom hendo not being there. 🙁

as we saw during qatar, jude strongly defended hendo then as well, telling people to ‘put some respect on his name.' on lion's den, jude and morgan said:

Jude: "They dont have a clue what theyre talking about." Morgan: "We said this the other day. If people did a blind ranking of people they'd want at the camp beforehand, he'd be in everyone's top five."

they genuinely think he's the funniest person alive. even though hendo says he spoke to his wife about them thinking that and they both wondered if they actually meant hendo lol.

Interviewer: "What's something the viewers wouldnt know about Hendo?" Jude: "He's so funny! He's the funniest guy at this camp. He gets everyone laughing, he gets everyone together." Interviewer: "Who's got the best banter in the england squad?" Morgan: "Jordan Henderson. It’s not even close either."

jude talks about how hendo is always looking out for the younger guys and is big on team culture. he sounds like he's very much speaking from experience of hendo helping him out too. i think hendo's especially aware of this because he's been pretty vocal about the culture at england not being particularly great when he was first called up. ❤️‍🩹

"If there's ever an issue that you maybe think... I'm 22 or 23, maybe it's a bit too much for me to go and address, he'll do it for you. If there's a problem between two people he’ll bring them together. He's that kind of person where even the staff will go to him to to sort out issues."

hendo looking at jude so affectionately in this pic!! ^^^ jude also massively admires hendo's insane work ethic and lack of ego:

"He's got no ego when it comes to supporting the team. I mean, yes, he's a Champions League winning captain, Premier League winning captain. He's doing the sets for the finishes yesterday. He doesn't have to do that. Every day in training, he's relentless in wanting to be better and wanting to push everyone else to be better. He drives intensity. I don't know if we're allowed to say, but the the lads, some of the lads that didn't play as many minutes today, had a game against a local team and honestly, you watch him in it and you think it's the Champions League final. I don’t get how you cannot admire that."

hendo himself admits that he struggles to give himself his flowers. he's extremely humble and the interviewer has to coax his best england moment out of him! jude thinks that this is maybe part of the reason his hard work goes under the radar💫:

"I know he's a very closed character when it comes to maybe the press and and the media and stuff like that. And that maybe has given them a chance to maybe create a narrative around why he's here, how can he be here, but for us inside honestly he's first name on a team sheet."

morgan talks a lot about how hendo helps him and jude control and regulate themselves emotionally, primarily through his own experiences. morgan also appreciates that hendo can see where he's made a mistake in the past, and how he deals with them💭:

Morgan: "He's big for us two as well. We're very emotional. Like a bad session, a bad half an hour moods and whatnot. And he's always the one in between us." Interviewer: "Your chances yesterday, I could see that it kind of got to you and it just it kind of seemed like he came over." Morgan: "I was annoyed obviously with the chances coming off. I give him one look in the face and he'll tell you and let you know like (makes a calm facial expression) and then again you're just in a happy mood like, whether he's smiling. No matter what, he is. It's just the way he is. He has that persona and that character."

Morgan: "I've been close to him and getting to know him more and more that I can probably use it more than maybe others. If you don't know him as much or he's not as comfortable with and to kind of be in it, like, it helps me so much. Even as I said - that look after Costa Rica - I'm disappointed in one action but he can see the whole and he knows how to address it. He's just got that that kind of calming character that he is and it just helps me and young players massively. Cuz when you're younger, you're emotional. You want everything to work. You want everything to be rosy and plain sailing. But Hendo's experienced everything in his career, good, bad, ugly, great. He even admits to me that he's not always dealt with it right, but doesn't want me to make them mistakes. And having that is massive for me cuz I don't want to make them mistakes. I want to kind of make the right decisions, make the right choices in their moments, and kind of get through it and help myself as well. So yeah, it's massive to have someone like that in the squad."

jude likes how hendo's always got the right thing to say, as well, which is probably why he hung around hendo so much in the first place😊:

"He's got a line for everything, every situation. You know, if you you need cheering up, he'll have a perfect line. If there's a bit of banter going around, he'll say something, have the whole room cracking up. But then when it comes to the work, like we were saying, if someone's not quite at it, maybe they're tired, maybe there's something going on, he'll be there to make sure that that person pushes the standard to reach the level that he thinks that we should be at. You know, he's like Morgs said: the best person I've ever come across in football and probably the biggest leader as well."

the 'biggest leader' quote really stands out to me, because i think it really demonstrates how - now that it's extremely likely that jude will be england captain one day - he really looks up to hendo in this way. hendo's not even captain for this tournament! kane is. but jude clearly views hendo and kane as being on a similar level for him.🤩

i know there's a lot of quotes here, but i really wanted to reflect the sheer magnitude of praise jude and morgan heaped onto hendo in just two interviews alone!! they're crazy about him, think so highly of him, and their bond only grew as the tournament progressed!🥹

of course, they also enjoy teasing hendo for his age, going around calling hendo 'unc' (lovingly, according to morgan lol):

Interviewer: "Jordan, I hear Morgan's been calling you 'unc' as well. So, you reached unc status. Are you happy with that?" Morgan (visibly gleeful this came up): "My god. He said out there as well. He said don't say anything." Hendo: "Bringing that into the public domain is bang out of order." Morgan: "It’s respect! He just doesn't see the positive out of it. He just sees the negative."

when playing 'this or that', morgan claims to like early morning work outs (morgan says hendo is just constantly working out) and hendo says he hasnt seen him at any early morning workouts yet!

Fun stories at camp🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

these three can consistently be seen hanging out and having fun all across the camp and hyping each other up!!

jude can be seen cuddle-piling on hendo here with some other players (7:46).

hendo giving jude a face massage?? <3

jude boxing hendo's abs (👀👀👀👀) ?!

jude and morgan actually organised hendo's birthday whilst at camp! they had a game of imposter organised and planned to somehow get him a cake, even tho jude doubted hendo would actually eat any of it because he's so dedicated to his diet ‘we’ll try and celebrate him as best as we can.' :)

Jude: "What's the party gonna be like for Hendo’s birthday?" Morgan: "Ohhh, it's gonna be a good one." Jude: "Imposter and fruit cake. Electrolyte cake!"

diet seems to be a running joke with the three of them. hendo jokes about morgan liking crisps too much. ‘... i do like a crisp from time to time…’ morgan jokes hendo is a ‘walking granola bowl’ - he’s obvs very fastidious about his diet!🍛

jude also brought a new card game to camp called 'skyjo', which they explain in this lion's den ep (10:48). the three of them have been playing with anthony gordon, dan burn and elliot anderson, which seems to be a group that stuck together a lot throughout the wc!🃏

Hendo's injury🤕

one of the more crazy parts of this wc was hendo actually managing to injure himself during celebrations after the mexico qf game by falling after climbing over an advertising board and breaking his wrist.

this put a bit of a dampener on the win as hendo had to stay behind in mexico city to get treated while the team returned to their base in kansas city. this meant he wasnt able to play as he had surgery and put a cast on, but he still kitted up every following game to support the boys!❤

England v France 3rd place game🇫🇷

as we all know, england unfortunately got knocked out in the semi finals by argentina, leaving us to play the 3rd place game against france. there wasn't a lot of interest in this game honestly, because it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it turned into a behemoth of a game, ending 6-4 england!💪

jude scored england's sixth goal in dramatic, solo fashion which also made him england's top world cup goal scorer! he ran straight to the england bench to celebrate. the original broadcast cut away to the crowd before we saw who he reached but i saw that huge grin on his face and i knew he was running to hendo and ofc he was!!!🥰

here's three beautiful, different angles of it!! someone pls gif this lovely moment i will love you foreverrrr <3 for now we must suffer with this very quick one i whipped up lol, but look at them!!!🥹

jude essentially recreates their celebration from qatar! pushing their foreheads together and even kissing hendo's forehead before folding him into a huge hug !!!

then after the game when everyone was going around and hugging and mourning the end of this world cup journey for real, jude, hendo and morgan all hug and press their foreheads together so intimately as they talk. morgan looks at hendo here with so much affection. truly the peak of the connection we've had insight into this world cup - pls kiss already!!!!! <3333

Going forward...

hopefully this is only the beginning of what we've been lucky enough to see from this wonderful throuple!! there's always plenty more, lower-stakes, england camps to come, and i've got my fingers crossed we get to see hendo at at least a couple more - i know jude and morgan will definitely be hoping (and advocating) to see their favourite person there too! :)

now with morgan moving to chelsea and hendo at brentford, they have the opportunity to grow their side of the bond even more!🤍