This Dutch team was dominated by Ecuador and Senegal. Senegal would have won with Sadio. Ecuador are a limited team. Only two goals against Qatar? This says more about the US defence than anything else. Let's not forget Canada is stronger than USA who benefited from a weak group.
Good article here on some of the dysfunctions in the Belgium team https://theathletic.com/3964321/202...-cup-inside-story/?source=user_shared_article Mostly seems to me Martinez stayed one tournament too long when they could have used a refresh. And of course more broadly the core players got old.
Wow Poland were all over them there. Needed to score that. France not looking like they're on another tier like everybody keeps assuming.
I do think one of the problems the article highlights is that the Belgium team got old, but Martinez stayed loyal to guys like Hazard who shouldn’t have been playing. I sort of think that this is often the reason why coaches go wrong during their second cycle. We on the other hand have a very young team and won’t have this issue. It’d be more akin to Low staying on after the 2010 World Cup. Or Southgate after the 2018 World Cup. Basically I don’t think the second cycle reason is the reason to get rid of Berhalter (though people may have other more valid reasons). But I do think that whoever the coach is in 2026, they probably shouldn’t be the coach in 2030 (as that’s when the team will start to need refreshing).
Every time I see the white England jerseys, I think someone at Nike thought, "How about this, but inverted?"