I thought we could use this as the new thread until WC 2014 qualifying rolls around. We probably won't play another competitive game until September-October of 2012. *sigh* Probably a good time to say goodbye to Van Buyten and Simons. I'd like us to play with the old Standard midfield once Defour gets some more playing time with Porto. Until then, there are enough alternatives. We also should use the year we have now to try out some alternatives on the fullback positions. Having two CBs playing out of position there will not do.
Re: The Rode Duivels: the fall-out from another failure, friendlies galore Fullbacks weren't so much the problem today, more the tactical naivety. There was no need to play such attacking soccer in the first 20 minutes. It leaves teams open at the back, and we got countered to death. Also if you watch the Germans, everything is forward and one-touch. Belgium takes too long with their buildup, giving the opponent time to settle into a set defense. And with all the corners we had today, I can admit Van Buyten would have been useful to have (or at least Vermaelen). Our next qualifying group will be strange, since everybody is very similar quality-wise. But if the Belgian squad progresses with regard to efficiency and tactical awareness, I see no reason that they can't finish first.
Re: The Rode Duivels: the fall-out from another failure, friendlies galore It's a bit rich for a side who got one in twelve possible points vs Germany and Turkey (5 of a possible 18 if you count the Austria games) to proclaim they will now all of a sudden beat Croatia, Serbia and Scotland with ease...
We haven't made any progress whatsoever with Leekens. There is no creativity in the midfield area. There is absolutely no running without the ball. Players don't really know what to do. Our attacking game is try to dribble 3 defenders while the rest is watching and waiting for their turn to dribble. The biggest difference with Germany was that the Germans sprint without the ball to get in a good position to give a pass. Belgium is the opposite, they stand still untill they get the ball and then start running with it. We have no full backs although Vertonghen and Alderweireld did a decent job. The midfield is all wrong as well; Witsel is box to box midfielder and not a playmaker, Simons is a pure defensive midfielder which is obsolete in modern football. Fellaini, Witsel controlling the midfield is more than enough... and put a playmaker in front of them. How many good chances did we seriously create in 10 games? It's no miracle we scored most of our goals from set pieces. Don't get your hopes up for 2014 with Leekens calling the shots. Another 3rd/4th place finish is the bleak future. Any other country would have fired their coach after such a poor performance but no we extend a contract after a win against Kazakstan. Our only home wins were against Kazakstan and Azerbaijan...whoopie! For the next campaign I woud start Courtois in goal, he's a lot better than Mignolet. I can't see any fullbacks emerging so we need to hope Vertonghen & Alderweireld can develop themselves on that position. We need to say bye bye to Simons and welcome Vadis, Defour & Naingolan. We need to play Hazard more, yes Leekens managed to play him only 260 minutes out of a possible 900 We might need to reconsider our 4-3-3. We only have one striker who can play in that system and he's too young to carry the load. All in all we have enough quality to qualify for any major tournament but we lack, coaching, mentality, knowhow. Not to mention mongoloids like Colin and De Keersmaecker running the show.
The problem with the manager situation is that we cannot get anyone better in. The failure to attract any real top candidates after Advocaat left is proof of that. Even though Courtois is talented, I have no problems with Mignolet remaining the n°1.
For the qualifying cycle, I'm hoping that we go for a slightly different standard formation. My dream Belgium lineup would have the following players: ---------------------------Courtois-------------------------- ---------Kompany--------Vertonghen---------------Vermaelen ---------------------------Fellaini---------------------------- --------------Defour--------------------Witsel---------------- --------------------------Mertens---------------------------- -------De Bruyne----------Lukaku-------------Hazard--------- It's a bit of a strange lineup, but I think it plays to the strength of the team. Drop the fullbacks entirely, since we don't have any. If the opponents are playing one striker, Vertonghen becomes slightly redundant at centre-back, so he can push up, or Fellaini can move down in the case that the opponents wingers are moving foward. Everything else is pretty logical, though De Bruyne doesn't regularly play at right-wing, his right foot could be so valuable as a means to give the final ball on a counter, or simply from outside the 16'.
I don't think this lineup is a realistic option in nowadays international football. The fullbacks are indeed a huge problem but I don't see many solutions. What real fullbacks do we have? Left: Van Damme, Tshimanga, Pocognoli, De Bock,... Right: Odoi, De Roover, Cavanda,... Maybe you guys can add names. Anyway we can conclude this list is extremely poor.
When defending, the formation can change if the opponents' setup requires it to. So potentially, Fellaini could drop back, and push Kompany and Vermaelen to the flanks. In this scenario, Witsel and Defour become d-mids and Hazard and De Bruyne drop back to support the temporary fullback. This would only happen when it's needed, so when Belgium retain possession it reverts to the original 3-4-3. Conversely, if Belgium are dominating, and we only really need to watch one central foward, Vertonghen can move up and join the midfield, pushing Defour and Witsel wider, and Fellaini higher. The intent of the formation is to compensate for our lack of fullbacks. While it's a out of the ordinary formation, Barcelona has been moving towards it recently (interchange Busquets with Fellaini and so forth). I'm not suggesting that Belgium is even a tenth as talented as that team, but we need some way to solve the fullback problem and give more support to the central striker.
We play a friendly against France in Paris on november 15. Also the FA is trying to set up a friendly against Romania on november 11 but nothing has been confirmed yet
We can't afford one. We just had this discussion, the reason we got Leekens in the first place is that he was all we could pay for. The two Belgians who could conceivably do a better job are earning a multitude of what the Belgian FA could pay in Saudi-Arabia and Morocco. And even half-decent foreign managers will ask more than the 450K Leekens is currently earning. To give you an idea, Hiddink is rumored to be on 3 million euros a year in Turkey, which is half of what he got in Russia. We won't get a top manager in for anything under 1.5-2 million euros a year. And I have read nothing that suggests that our FA suddenly has that kind of money to devote to a manager.
Well maybe once Preud'homme has made enough money in the middle-east, he'll take on a salary around 1 million.
Well the KBVB hired Advocaat when there was virtually no revenue. They couldn't even give away tickets to people, literally. They also got little to no money for TV rights. And Nike was paying almost nothing as kit supplier. Now however, the Rode Duivels are quite fashionable again in Belgium. Lots of sponsership (the deal with Burrda in particular). TV revenues and viewership is up. And even for games against small team, they're getting 25-30,000 people paying for tickets. So I think the money is there for it.
Les gardiens Thibaut Courtois (A. Madrid), Olivier Renard (Malines) et Jean-François Gillet (Bologne). Les défenseurs Toby Alderweireld (Ajax), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit Saint-Petersbourg), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) et Anthony Vanden Borre (Genk). Les milieux Eden Hazard (Lille), Dries Mertens (PSV), Vadis Odjidja Ofoé (FC Bruges), Timmy Simons (Nuremberg), Marouane Fellaini (Everton), Steven Defour (Porto), Axel Witsel (Benfica), Guillaume Gillet (Anderlecht), Nacer Chadli (Twente), Kevin De Bruyne (Genk) et Radja Nainggolan (Cagliari). Les attaquants Moussa Dembélé (Fulham), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Jelle Vossen (Genk) et Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos).
I don't like he publicly chastized Nainggolan. Seems to me if you aren't one of his favorites, you are on a far shorter leash than others.
If Meunier keeps up his great play, he might be one for the upcoming campaign. But in general, this is a pretty excellent selection. It'd be nice to see both Kompany and Vermaelen in the centre of defense for once.
To be fair, Van Buyten has had a great season so far at Bayern (who are right now one of the best teams in the world).
Van Buyten will be 34 in February, and 36 by the time the WC arrives. Both he and Simons should have been retired at the end of this qualifying cycle.