Very important game! If we win this, we will not only qualify for the second round, but also very likely become group winners.
Good enough to hurt us if we don't play our A-game. We should have a huge height advantage though, so I hope we play to get as many corners as possible. Apparently they only have two good headers in the team, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with our air brigade (Kompany, Van Buyten, Vertonghen, Fellaini, Witsel, Lukaku) on corners.
Shit game, a largely disappointing performance saved by Hazard coming alive towards the end and Origi's cool finish. Can Wilmots really justify starting Lukaku in the final game now? He did nothing at all once again, and this time he does not have the excuse of being too isolated or being up against two rows of four defenders all the time.
I think you could maybe - maybe - scrape together fifteen minutes of decent football out of the first 180+ minutes played. That is not enough. The first decent team we encounter will bounce us. Even Russia could have beat us today had they a bit more luck. It won't matter who we get out of the other group, all four of those teams have put in better performances than us. The version of Ghana that played Germany last night would gut us.
I had expected a draw from this game (1-1), but better play so I guess I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by the result. I'm not sure that's true about us going out against a 'decent' team. Every game is different and there hasn't really been a consistently good performance by any powerhouse at this tournament (besides France). The positives so far have been the centre-backs and keeper. They all look assured and have kept their opponents relatively quiet. The fullbacks have been average to mediocre. Witsel has done a great job winning possesion and getting the ball back. The wingers and De Bruyne have been mostly invisible but with a few key flashes. Lukaku has been abject so far (his fault but also the rest of the team). Origi has done well, but we're missing Benteke as an outlet to holdup the ball. The biggest problem remains the number 8 position. Dembele held the ball for far too long. Fellaini didn't help Witsel enough in the middle of the park in the second game (not to beat a dead horse, but this is exactly why I wanted to see Nainggolan in the squad instead of Ciman) There was far too much space between the defending 5 and the attacking 5. Russia got between those lines easily and had they been more clinical and had our defenders been worse, it could have ended badly. So far, Vertonghen, Witsel and Alderweireld are on yellows. Any two yellows from here to the end of the quarters will result in a match-ban. The first two are especially worrying; Witsel because of how important he is and Vertonghen because there may be no cover at LB now Vermaelen is injured. Maybe next game Lombaerts, Vanden Borre and Defour get the start to avoid any suspensions for the second round. I'd expect Januzaj to get capped properly and Origi might get a start as well. Maybe Dembele deserves another chance as well.
At least Korea will be the cure for all your offensive problems ! Oh and please let up after the 4th or 5th goal. No need to really embarrass us .
Wilmots seems to feel more comfortable when we're "sitting back" (deceptive pressing, blocking off direct passing/dribbling lanes and initiating counter-attacks) than when we're "dominating" (looked more like playing with matches and we're lucky not to get burned) ... we might already see a bit of the former in the next tie (although he could contain that tie with patience/sterile possession too) ... Januzaj will probably be cap-tied but hopefully it's not a repeat of the final Q-match against Wales ... instead we start building momentum going into the KO-stage.
Terrible performance except the first and last 10 minutes. Strangely Lukaku is totally out of sorts otherwise he should have scored in the first 10 minutes when martens was awesome. Play Origi cause he looks comfortable and confident than Lukaku. Round of 16 will be tough for us if we play in this tempo.
Not sure how we could have possibly done even less and still have six points at this stage of the competition. We need to improve all around. I am not going to put a lot of blame on our wingers, either Hazard, Mertens or Mirallas. It's impossible for any player if he is always up against two or three defenders. That is why we need our fullbacks to join in at least some of the attacks.
Alderweild done just ok so far defensively, nothing while attacking. Play van dan borre and give him the chance to announce himself in the world stage. Who knows he might come up good cause he is a talented player himself. About left back we don't have any option but playing vermaelen was a good decision than playing vertonghen at that position. But he got injured so no options.
The technicality of a central diffender and a side back is totally different. Its a specialized position. Also its a case of mental setup.
Can someone please create the thread for the third game? I did the first two but it didn't seem to help the quality of our football.
She shot herself in the foot ... http://www.businessinsider.com/lore...aere-after-hunting-photo-2014-7#ixzz37BCnQDfv PS in case you didn't know, I Club Brugge fans in general and fans like her ... even when Club was playing boring football I had sympathy for them ... that's a while back and I'm happy they changed to more attacking football ... I'm also not an Anderlecht fan ... used to think they were too arrogant but of the G5 I feel their club deserves the most respect ... my little club hopes to one day be back in 2nd division (not that engaged in the Pro League unless we make it there but tbh we belong in 2nd at best).