Random as hell.
Roberto Martínez is new Belgium manager
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Surreal. What a boss (and I ain't talking about that guy on the right trying to figure out what to make of our defense).
Since when does Thierry Henry have so many tattoos?
I guess a few of the Belgian players will kinda look up to Henry a bit more than Roberto.
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Thought Wilmots was clueless but they actually managed to find an even bigger fraud. Such a terrible manager.
How was Belgium's overall play today?
I forgot this happened
His Belgium plays exactly like Everton: static possession game.
Still don't understand how he got the job. Such a random appointment, he isn't Belgian and doesn't seem to have any connection to Belgium. I thought Van Gaal would have made a much better choice.
Good old Greece sitting deep.
You know he's not Belgian either, right?
Very odd manager, got his Wigan team to sometimes play nice football and usually right at the end of a campaign. His Everton team played well for maybe one season and then went in to turmoil and it seems he hasn't even had a good patch with this Belgium team. With quite a sporadic style in terms of results as a manager its probably a bad idea to take international management, you need consistency and to be able to get your ideas implemented quick on to your team. Its still early days but Martinez looks an odd appointment with his past credentials.
The Belgian FA would have to pay a lot more to get Van Gaal.
Yeah, I remember their net being extremely small because they lacked/weren't willing to put in a big wage. Martinez sort of needed the job, he was a big enough name for Belgium so they went with it. Before him it was sort of a formality that Michel Preud'homme was going to get it.
Belgium and Netherlands are neighbours and have literally the same culture and language, appointing Van Gaal would have made much more sense considering his nationality and record with the Dutch NT.
Horrible. What an atrocious manager. 0-1 down to 10 man Greece, at home, with 3 central defenders and 2 defensive midfielders on the pitch. He has Tielemans and Thorgan Hazard on the bench. Who does he put on? Dembélé and Mirallas. Just awful. Wilmots was an abysmal manager but Martinez is no better. I can't stand him. He didn't even use his third sub! We rescued a point at home against fecking Greece! Just go away and die in a fecking corner you absolute fraud. One of the worst managers I've ever seen.
He appears to be a complete fraud, although, he's not really a fraud, because he's never actually been that good in the first place.
You don't have to take everything that's said on a football forum seriously, lad.
I thought they're in deep shit after seeing the posts in this thread but they're leading their group, won 4 out of 5 with drawing the last one and have a GD of +20.
Geez, talking about overreaction, Greece have grinded out crap draws against a lot of teams, no need to go into meltdown.
Geez, talking about overreaction, Greece have grinded out crap draws against a lot of teams, no need to go into meltdown.
The issue is Wilmots could have won this group easily too. Martinez showing frailties now suggests another hiccup at the next WC. It's an issue of wasted potential for all of the good players they've had over the past 6-8 years.
We all know we'll go out with a whimper against the first decent opposition we'll encounter during the tournament. That's the source of our frustration. Winning groups with opponents like Gibraltar, Estonia and Cyprus isn't exactly an achievement. We're looking for signs that we've improved since Wilmots, especially when it comes to game management through subs. So far I haven't seen any.
I'm gonna be a bit rude here but the Belgian team hardly consists of winners. They consistently buckle under pressure and somehow don't seem to link up well with each other on the pitch. Instead of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" it is the opposite with Belgium.
And the coach is meant to rectify that shortcoming... which neither Wilmots nor Martinez had/have the capacity to do.
A draw against Greece does suggest a hiccup at the WC? Big leap that, I'd judge him after his first tournament not on meaningless qualifies where most of the players try to stay injury free. And unlike Wilmots Martinez actually has proven to be quite a capable cup manager.
Hmm yea fecking Greece. A team that's actually won a trophy and has a better record at major tournaments than you in the past 15 years. How about you actually achieve something before you start looking down on others.
That's the only logic I can bring to the appointment, Martinez has a good record in cups.
You seem upset.
You mention Tielemans and Hazard, but didn't he also have Batshuaiyi, Benteke and Origi there? As in actual strikers? I mean, if you're looking for a goal...
Yeah, found that point bizarre. I would probably play Dembele and Mirallas as well if Tielemans and ThorganH are the options.
Wishing death upon him makes you a piece of shit human being. I recommend you take that "corner" and wither into your sleep for good.
That's not the point. Even when at their best, and that's a long time ago and has nothing to do with their current side, they're an extremely reactive side. You need to be wary of the counter attack against them but not line-up with 3 centre backs and 2 defensive/controlling midfielders. That's pointless.
Fecking hell, a throwaway comment, clearly meant over the top, in a pissed off post directly after the match is now "wishing death upon him". It's funny that you're taking a moral high ground but take a single pissed off line out of context to conclude I'm a piece of shit human being.
Van Gaal was interested in the job years ago, when this generation of class players was dawning, but the Belgian FA was in a mess and Van Gaal judged that they couldn't get the circumstances right to perform. Then they hired Advocaat, who wasn't as thorough about professionalism as about his own salary, but he fled the country after he found out about the Belgian FA.
Oh no, not because of the same culture. It's quite a different culture, and it's a very different football culture, but the cultures are close enough to make every little differences into big problems. Sometimes it's less troublesome to have an entirely different culture than small differences.
Language is another issue, because Belgium is a bilingual country (trilingual technically) and the Walloons already feel overpowered by the Flemish. If there's a Dutch speaking manager the question is whether he will favour the Flemish players when it's a Belgian, but then it's not that big a deal because a Belgian manager has to be Flemish or Walloon anyway. When they get a Dutch manager in that is not the case, and the language issue has to be handled with care.
It'll be all the Spurs players they've got. #bottlers
I can fully understand the frustration. With the players Belgium have they could be a real handfull at the next World Cup but you get the feeling Martinez will waste the opportunity.
Uhm, it feels a bit weird reading that bolded part because if you do not get through the 'meaningless qualifiers' you cannot participate in the tournament. I know that they're not really in danger of losing out on it but still.
Point taken, what I meant was that in the greater scheme of things this draw won't change much as they'll qualify anyway.
Yeah, they have the same culturally alright. Like the UK and the US have the same culture. Literally.
Besides, Belgium already has had a Dutch manager and it didn't work out so well either.
I think alot are overestimating Belgium. Yes, they have some really good players BUT i dont think they are something special. Granted, to win a Euro you dont have to be the best, but i think Belgium lacks quality in depth. If Hazzard or KDB is missing who is their backup? Yesterday was Fellaini. Origi and Batsuayi are good but you really cant depend on them. Their defense seems a bit shaky. And Witsel is playing in China. The last 2 tournaments proved that so far they are just a decent team with people judging them more on fifa stats and thus they overemphasize their capabilities.
Agreed, I used to think Belgium had some top, top players but when you look at the details they're not really. Just lots of players we recognise instantly because they play for PL teams, or are on the bench of many PL teams to be more precise. They are pretty much the continental version of England.