Piet De Visser on: Dembele ... In previous seasons I saw Dembele as an ideal utility man ... mainly because he was (mis)used all over the pitch ... after this season however, I feel that Wimots can't ignore him and he should start/get as many minutes as possible together with Nainggolan and KDB. Lukaku ... PDV: "compared to Benteke, Lukaku is on another level but Wilmots needs to put his trust in him/give him confidence ... he'll be of great value when he's made the main man and playing with better players ... Lukaku is ready to make the next step." Hazard ... "U tipt Eden Hazard als dé ster van het komende EK. glundert) "Ik wil hem een hart onder de riem steken. Hazard is helemaal anders dan De Bruyne. Hazard leeft van momenten. En die zijn gewéldig. Mourinho heeft getracht om van Hazard een betere versie van Messi of Ronaldo te maken, maar dat kan niet. Dat wordt hij nooit. Eden is Eden. Hij kan schitterende acties maken, maar het wordt nooit een machine. Eden is een frivole jongen. Die wil ook ontspannen. Die moet je nooit de druk geven van jij móet de ploeg trekken. Die moet je geen aanvoerder maken. Je moet gewoon zeggen: 'Jij moet lekker meespelen.'" Bij de nationale ploeg pushen we hem nochtans ook voortdurend in de rol van absolute vedette. "Jullie moeten hem vrijheid geven. En geen druk. Dan is Eden op z'n best. Mourinho is een pure winnaar, die wou Eden nóg beter maken. Terwijl hij al top was, dus hou dat dan gewoon zo. Maar Mourinho wou dat hij áltijd de kar trok, áltijd scoorde, nóg meer matchen besliste. Die druk werd veel te groot en daar ging Hazard z'n spel onder lijden. En toen is Mourinho uit z'n slof geschoten tegen hem. Die jongen werd van de hemel in de hel geflikkerd! Daar krijg je stress van en daar komen dan blessures uit voort. Ik hoop dat de nieuwe coach anders met Hazard omgaat." (a few fragments of the interview in English) In KDB's case Mourinho also created a toxic environment ... adding to his reputation of being crap with younger talents. KDB ... Courtois ...
Hiddink on Hazard (after his brace on Saturday): "Hij heeft een lange periode met veel tegenslagen achter de rug. Hij stond klaar om terug te komen en viel dan opnieuw uit. Dat moet heel frustrerend geweest zijn voor hem. Maar hij heeft zo hard gewerkt. Eigenlijk zou hij vandaag maar 45 minuten spelen, maar hij had zo veel plezier op het veld dat hij de hele wedstrijd kon volmaken. Het is echt een opluchting om hem zo vrij te zien spelen." "Ik zag dat hij deze week op training eindelijk weer plezier had op het veld. Ik heb hem voor de match gezegd dat hij ook zo moest proberen te spelen tijdens de partij. Dat is gelukt en hij wordt meteen beloond met twee doelpunten. Dit zal heel veel voor hem betekenen." KDB thrives when he's the focal point while Hazard is more of a chancer ... hopefully Wilmots will let them express what's within their nature.
Both Gibraltar and Kosovo are now FIFA members ... one of them could be added to our Russia2018 Qs group ... don't know if those ties will impact our ranking ... those friendlies with Russia could very well have been better (expecting them to be replaced as these are scheduled to take place on the same dates).
Would have much rather had Russian friendlies than watching stomps of Gibraltar. Kosovo are an interesting team as there is some talent, but they wouldn't put up much of a fight either. I think both will be added to the last two groups seeing as there is still time before the qualifying campaign begins.
Markus Weinzierl taking his turn on the S04 hot seat ... that's a shame ... they could have had Wilmots. Van Gaal is looking to take over if Wilmots leaves ... ready yourselves for sex masochism.
http://fennecfootball.com/2016/05/31/algerie-marc-wilmots-sera-t-nouvelle-entraineur-de-len/ Too good to be true?
Gibraltar will join Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia and Cyprus in Group H (Russia2018 Qs) - fifa.com No word on the friendlies with Russia but I'm expecting those will be binned.
Martinez will make his first selection public next Friday around 12 CET ... for the friendly with Spain in Brussels (01/09) and the first qualifier against Cyprus in Nicosia (06/09). Borkelmans (Wilmots's assistant), Borlée (liaison officer) and Innaurato (physical coach) have been dismissed ... most likely a deal will be reached with Graeme Jones (who worked under Martinez at Swansea, Wigan and Everton) ... Walem will return and take over from Scifo ... he'll make his first U-21 selection public together with Martinez.
Maesschalck is back! ... not only is it great to see a top physio return ... the players love him and his presence alone will boost morale ... Wilmots out and Maesschalck back in
Thibaud Verlinden ... one of the Standard kiddies that moved to a bigger league as soon as he turned 16 ... has been provided with a bar code to reflect his status as a commodity ... 7m for clubs that like to add him to their shopping cart. Also, there are hardly any Belgians starting in Belgian clubs ... foolishly I hoped that Belgian clubs would put their trust in (Belgian) youth ... yet the lack of trust is still widespread ... love to see more Belgian talents follow in the footsteps of Tielemans or Engels ... instead you hear about Meunier advising Engels to leave for a club like Arsenal asap.
4 more wins, please ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_UEFA_European_Under-21_Championship_qualification_Group_1
Standard finally dismissed Ferrera ... would have loved him as our U-21 manager instead of Walem ... maybe as T4 now that Henry is T3 and there's hardly any Belgian in the staff ... Ferrera could give us some sort of continuity.
U21 verslaan Tsjechië met 2-1! In oktober vs Montenegro & Letland (thuis)! #u21BelCze pic.twitter.com/M1fxSlPyK8— Royal Belgian FA (@RoyalBelgianFA) September 6, 2016 Goals from Praet and Tielemans.
Alsof de motivatie nog niet groot genoeg is! Bondscoach Martinez sprak onze beloften toe voor #CluLei! #UYL pic.twitter.com/5U652vLzqM— Club Brugge KV (@ClubBrugge) September 13, 2016
Maybe some of our journos should have tried something similar as the Big Sam ops on Wilmots and his lovely wife/advisor ... when Mendes is your agent and you're being awarded a global "best coach of the year" trophy ... it wouldn't be too big of a surprise if Wilmots was involved in a few shady deals while he was our manager ... unlike Big Sam, Wilmots shat on Belgian football openly though but IDK how Marc feels about our royals.
http://www.tuttosport.com/sondaggi/...a_il_golden_boy_2016_scegli_il_tuo_preferito/ Golden Boy ... only Tielemans ... Bailey the only other Pro League player.