According to Wilmots he is experiencing a dip (at OM) ... yet IMAO he's in much better form than Origi. Also Wilmots claims that he's giving Januzaj time to adjust to a new club ... oddly enough there are others that he called up who recently made a move ... Boyata, Bakkali, Cavanda, Denayer, et al.
Thought the same, there is even speculation about a loan deal for Origi. Bakkali got injured last game, so I'm guessing he's ok again, but still. I hope they're going to at least test an alternate for Witsel. I'd like to see Nainggolan play Witsel's position.What he provides in terms of passing forward fast is too useful to ignore and it frees up a spot for a CAM to add some creativity. Helas, no T. Hazard, Musonda or Januzaj.
Insane decision. Wilmots must really dislike him for some reason. There is no justification on current form to take Origi and not Batshuayi.
Praet is not playing good enough to warrant inclusion. Lestienne makes sense just courtesy of the competition at those positions.
They deserve to be in the squad on merit. Kums is a very direct and quick-thinking CM. I think Wilmots likes him because (like Nainggolan) he can speed up the play. Depoitre just gives Wilmots another type of CF (especially in Benteke's absence). He is strong and holds the ball up well.
http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/voetbal/Rode_Duivels/1.2464308 If we win our next 2 ties, we'll be No. 1 ... finally FIFA's ranking will reflect reality
I don't normally come to the Belgium forum and I came here to post that. As a fan of Israel I expect Belgium to beat Israel, but Israel has some good away draws like at Wales last month and at Portugal two years ago. So far Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, and Netherlands are the seven countries that have been Number 1 in the FIFA Rankings.
We also have this to "worry" about. Another game won with a 1 goal difference means Portugal will claim a top seed if they win against Serbia.
De 11/ Le 11 pour #andbel: Mignolet, Meunier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, J. Lukaku, Witsel, Nainggolan, De Bruyne, Hazard, Mertens & Depoitre— Marc Wilmots (@WilmotsMarc) October 9, 2015
witsel, naingollen together against andorra!!! ridiculous!!! happy that a new striker will be on show though.
I wouldn't mind this honestly. Would love to see Belgium in a group of death for once, instead of another group of boredom.
Nice fluid football, good improvement. But... only Andorra (with all respect). Israel will be a better test for their improved style. Only thing that really bothered me was Vertonghen's nonchalance, every time it plays up Belgium gets some brutal consequences, in this case a penalty. I loved how Wilmots kept shouting at Witsel to speed up his play, will help him get those skills back. Ratings: - Mignolet: 8 (largely untested) - Vertonghen: 5 - Alderweireld: 9 (this guy's passes are so underestimated) - Lukaku: 7 (bit uncertain, will get better) - Meunier: 9 (as always our right flank is most deadly, and he did a good job in contributing to it) - Nainggolan: 8 - Witsel: 7 - De Bruyne: 9 (hope he get to stay playing central, most effective there) - Mertens: 9 (hope he stays on the right flank) - Hazard: 7 - Depoitre: 8 (like how he tracked back and didn't just camp the 16) - Bakkali: N/A - Chadli: 8 - Cavanda: 8 So, what awaits Belgium in the future: - right flank vastly outperforms the left flank in the majority of games, although late breakthroughs counters do seems to come from the left flank more often, perhaps that's good the way it is - Hazard's dip continues; in his defence, the Andorra players were brutal, so they didn't give him much of a chance - De Bruyne just has to play central, because (1) more effective there and (2) allows Mertens to play on the right flank - Like to see competition for Witsel, let him step up his play or lose his spot - I have no idea what our defence should like: I very much like to see more of the Spurs duo in the centre and natural backs alongside them, this challenges Kompany's and Vermaelen's reign, but perhaps it is nice to have two options, one more defensive, one more offensive.
If we win against Israel on Tuesday, it will have been a decent campaign. My biggest concern going forward: we only scored five times against the non-minnows. That is a problem. Especially since the teams we are going to meet at the EC are going to be better (some of them anyway) than Wales, Bosnia and Israel.
Why not give someone else a chance? Play Kompany in front of the spurs duo in place of witsel, will be interesting.
... and their last tie was won with a 1 goal difference ... only 1 top seed left which will go to either Holland, Italy or us.
I believe we won't win tonight. Because nothing would be more Belgian than ********ing up a top seed at the Euros and n°1 spot on the FIFA ranking by messing up an easy home game against Israel.
I don't have a good feeling about this either. Not to mention we're leaving the qualifiers with a huge question mark over our striker situation yet again.
Congrats to all of y0u, to Belgium, and to the players. They deserved top spot in the group. Israel was shyyttt the entire campaign. wish you good luck in euro's. I'll be happy if you go far (and win it).
Thanks, but we will not win the Euros. Realistically speaking, we will survive the group stage and then it will depend upon who we meet in the first knock-out match.
Congratulations Belgium with qualifying and achieving the number 1 spot on the FIFA rankings! I will be a Belgium supporter during EURO 2016. And it's allowed to make fun of us, we deserve it for being an absolute joke in the qualifying stage.