Average performance. Better than vs. Japan, about the same as against Colombia. Most worrying is the fact that we are conceding so many goals. Seven in just the last three games...
Yes it was kinda like the Colombia game. We played well, miss a few chances, do a bunch of subs and then collapse and give away a couple of goals after terrible defending, especially on free kicks. On the positive side we create a lot of chances but also we lack killer instinct. That Benteke miss was horrible lol.
Look at it this way ... we didn't lose = we're improving. Didn't really look like a friendly on the pitch ... much friendlier off the pitch. Finishing was sloppy, passing was sloppy, defense was sloppy, ... doubting that it was due to the sloppy pitch. What are your thoughts on VDB and Nainggolan?
If Wilmots really wanted to test them he should have started them. Eveybody knows friendlies usually turn into an unorganised mess in the 2nd half. I think its unfair to judge them on this game. Playing them in the first half would have given us a better idea.
Finishing remains a problem, against this team I think Lukaku would been better then Benteke (even though his miss was due to the field, the ball bounced really high just before he struck it). First half we didn't give them even half a chance besides that howler from Kompany. Second half when the subs came in the level went down fast. They still didn't have that many chances (they did miss 1 big one). All in all I think we will a beat a team like CIV in june. But I doubt we will win any game easily, we just miss too many chances.
It was Nainggolan's best game for Belgium. Not that this was hard to achieve. Vanden Borre disappointed a bit imho. Especially in the attacking sense. He only participated in seemingly two attacks.
We did well in qualifying due to our good defense. We only average two goals a game in the WC qualifiers. That means we can afford to concede one goal, but not more.
According to het Nieuwsblad, Wilmots has already made up his mind about 22 of the 23 places to go to Brazil. His one area of doubt is the back-up RB slot: Meunier or Vanden Borre. Goalkeepers: Courtois Mignolet Casteels Defenders: Kompany Lombaerts Vermaelen Vertonghen Van Buyten Alderweireld Pocognoli Meunier or Vanden Borre Midfielders: Witsel Fellaini Defour Simons Chadli Dembele Attackers: De Bruyne Hazard Mertens Lukaku Benteke Mirallas
It's starting to look better for Alderweireld, Defour & Chadli ... still Van Buyten & Vermaelen will most likely spend more time warming the bench than on the pitch ahead of Brazil2014 ... and then there's Fellaini: BEFORE AFTER
What's the prognosis on Koscielny? Looks like his calf injury will prevent him from returning in the near future. Arsene Wenger has challenged Vermaelen to show his quality for Arsenal in the remaining seven games of the Premier League season - goal.com If this is true Vermaelen will get a bit of match rhythm ahead of the training camp period.
It's a bit of an issue for us though. We don't have another one like him. We will be fine with Lukaku against the bigger teams (Portugal, Germany, maybe Russia) but he will struggle against those teams that do not allow a lot of room. Batshuayi has to make the squad now.
Michy is good ... just a shame that Benteke has to miss out on Brazil though ... praying that Lukaku will be fit ... imo Lukaku is the best CF of all U-21 players plying their trade in the big leagues and he's becoming more well-rounded with every minute that he spends on the pitch ... with Benteke out he can expect to start and Wilmots can fit Lukaku, Michy, Vossen et al. into his plans. On current form I'd go with Mertens, Hazard & Lukaku ... although Mirallas has club chemistry with Lukaku, I'd use him as a sub at the moment ... Mertens has been performing well for club & country lately. PS one of Lukaku's best memories is that match vs Ajax ... when he scored his first 2 goals in the EL while he was only a 16yo (Ajacieden were doubting he was really so young 5 years ago) ... it also contains a positive message:
Defense is a concern for us as can be seen from the last few matches, we have conceded too many goals. Still no body is sure of whos going to play where! kompany and lombaerts looks the best bet for me in the center, vertonghen in left, alderweild in right, although he has not played as a right back for a long time. Vermaelen totally lost his confidence as fellaini. mirallas should start.
Bad news for Everton. Kevin Mirallas' PL-season is over after he tore a muscle against #MUFC. Out between 3-4 weeks. . #EFC (@philmcnulty)— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) April 22, 2014 Cutting it close but he'll make Brazil ... can rest now and depend on L. Maesschalck to get him match fit for training camp ties. Also I was hoping City rested Kompany ... however it's crunch time ... so he'll most likely start in the remaining ties. Vermaelen was injured too ... the match before that Arsenal used him as an LB again ... did a fine job although he still feels uncomfortable there ... had expressed hope that Wilmots will allow Vertonghen to play in his favourite role as CB and let Vermaelen feature at LB ... do you guys think there's a chance of this happening?
wilmots cannot play vermaelen in the CB with his current form. So either vertonghen goes to CB with kompany and vermaelen goes to LB or lombaerts goes to CB with Kompany and vertonghen in LB.
Vermaelen had some good games lately. But his best game was as a LB against Hull. Maybe he can switch positions with Vertonghen?
I think Wilmots is well aware that Vertonghen prefers to be used as a CB ... has to make a "tough" decision but I fear he'll stick to Vertonghen at LB ... maybe during traning camp we'll get more info.
Bondscoach @WilmotsMarc maakt op dinsdag 13/5 (12u) zijn preselectie bekend voor het WK! #worldcup #reddevilstobrazil— Royal Belgian FA (@RoyalBelgianFA) April 23, 2014
According to Wilmots, Januzaj will play for Belgium. Question is, does he make the 23 man squad (he should surely be in the 30 man preselection)?
Saw his tweet too ... I think he'll make the larger one ... training camp might get him into the final 23 ... looking to the future, Wilmots should select him so he can gain WC experience.
I think he goes to the WC as the 23rd man. He could be of use as an impact sub. I doubt he will start many games though.