They absolutely love Martinez over there. It’s ridiculous.
To be fair, Wilmots got them from 114th in the world ranking or something to the WC. Belgium was in absolute shambles, the FA was bankrupt, there was no organization, no proper staff, every manager with self respect said no. But instead of giving Wilmots a statue, a knighthood and a million, which he deserved, they gave him the job for more years out of gratitude, which was a mistake. Because the national team was about the only thing holding the country together, they kept telling themselves that their 2014 WC was a success, while it was obviously an underachievement.
Ah, the ranking, the all important ranking
With that quality of players it was impossible not to be good. Which is all Wilmots just about managed. I don't know what he did for the FA or whatever, if he really was that important for them then kudos, he was still an hilariously incompetent coach
They went out to Argentina. That wasn't an underachievement. The uncompetitiveness of the game was. Easiest game of the tournament for the argies
They never were the best and never had the best players though. This is the other thing, perspective. Plenty of similarly or more talented groups never won anything either, through a combination of luck, chocking, and simply not being the best around
It's not that much of a surprise. Against Denmark they conceded 21 shots and returned 6, the xG was 2.24-0.79 in Denmark's favour. Against Portugal they conceded 23 shots and returned 6, the xG was 1.73-0.25 in Portugal's favour. The xG on their goal against Portugal was 0.03xG and they didn't create another chance higher than 0.05xG. Those kind of performances made them winning the tournament pretty unlikely unless they got a lot better. Without wanting to upset Belgium fans they were easy to play against and had been riding their 'luck' in the tournament already. They actually did better against Italy but were still not the better team and ended up on the wrong side if the result.
I would add that they need a new group of defenders to replace the ones they have who are looking very tired
Well, I was being a little nice. They have looked vulnerable but still Italy cut them open time and time again. The individuals they have dont match the level of performance they return, they should be much better.
Agree with this.
No sir it’s the Dutch that are arrogant not the Belgians. You haven’t paid attention!
These Belgium players are particularly dislikable.
Lack of drama and lack of character. And most importantly quality.These Belgium players are particularly dislikable.
the Dutch aren’t arrogant, they just usually have a meltdown! Particularly disappointed in the lack of drama from the Dutch camp this year
Meh, it was more bad luck than anything else with england imo. Except for McLaren, every other time it was either injuries to their key players(Rooney, Owen) or they just run into a better team(brazil)
It does say something if it's that low. They couldn't even beat some former Soviet stan no one remembers it's name.Ah, the ranking, the all important ranking
He was out of of his depth, no doubt about that. But the surrounding of the national team was unprofessional to a degree no one else was willing to take the job.
The point is that players took turns in showing their class, rather than bringing it together and becoming a real class team. The manager, the players, the FA, the media, they all ignored that and took flashes of individual class for really good football.
I don't know what Belgian fans you've been speaking to, but that is certainly not true for pretty much any fellow supporter I've ever interacted with. His appointment was met with a feeling of "meh", we thought very little of him during our first qualifying campaign and we only sort of started tolerating him because the World Cup wasn't bad and we had some great moments. Nothing he's shown since has really elevated him in our collective estimation. The media has always been extremely easy on him though, I'll give you that.
No, just no.
I mean, you'll probably find some Belgians who'd say that but most level headed fans never got carried away that much. We've obviously seen more casual fans who've been riding the wave of our talented generation, they probably thought we were brilliant or something, but that happens everywhere. I think a lot of us just wanted to enjoy a good generation while it lasts, before we go back to struggling to qualify and basically being irrelevant. We just hoped we might've gotten to a final along the way or something.On Sporza they were before this match really positive about him. But if that’s not the general feeling I stand corrected.I don't know what Belgian fans you've been speaking to, but that is certainly not true for pretty much any fellow supporter I've ever interacted with. His appointment was met with a feeling of "meh", we thought very little of him during our first qualifying campaign and we only sort of started tolerating him because the World Cup wasn't bad and we had some great moments. Nothing he's shown since has really elevated him in our collective estimation. The media has always been extremely easy on him though, I'll give you that.
No, just no.
Yeah those guys are so soft, the interviews are cringe worthy. Although some of the guest pundits are a bit more critical or realistic.
I watch every match on Sporza. When it’s not Belgium they are miles better than the NOS. Just like Cycling. Cycling the difference is even wider. I was sad Wuyts left although I understand the decision. But god why o why Youri Mulder.
Surprised you say that about Wuyts, I had the idea (from a Dutch cycling site) that a lot of Dutch cycling fans really can't stand him. And you don't like Your Mulder? Always seemed all right to me.
True, it was quite a bad period all the way thru from the end of Wilmots' playing days (finishing with a strong underdog performance at the 2002 WC) right up until the moment he took charge of the NT a decade later.
People just forget how hard is to win a tournament.
He’s a bit too nationalistic towards Lefevre and Van Aert but he is the voice of cycling for me. There is not a single Dutch cycling fan that watches cycling on Dutch tv. My uncle went to home when my father turned on Dutch tv. Wuyts and De Cauwer is cycling for me.
Not sure what the emojis are for. So you agreed they need a better manager then?Can't tell if serious or not
Anyways, first of all:
Now, belgium's two main problems: much like england's, their golden generation was never the most talented side in any tournament they took part in. They lost to objectively superior sides in both 2014 and 2018, and this time around to a team around their same level of talent. Really only 2016 they lost to someone they shouldn't have
And the second problem, is that they wasted years of this by leaving a guy who looked like he won the job through a raffle in charge (Wilmots), then after that inevitably crashed and burned with that inexcusable defeat to Wales, they replaced him with a guy whose credentials for the job were "Is not Wilmots"
Thorgan Hazard, Doku, De Bruyne, Lukaku. That's 4 forwards on the pitch from the start
Thorgan Hazard playing left wing back and defending for most of it.
Which he would have done regardless of nominal formations or roles given Italy's ball domination for most of the game
