I think they maybe will go further this time. Because there isn’t any pressure on them anymore. World Cup 2014 was the same thing. New generation, later called “The Golden Generation” and they reached the quarter finals without any pressure. So this is the position where they are at their best. Don’t underestimate our talented team. But I can be wrong and this can turn out very badly. So fingers crossed.
They might be able to express themselves a bit more under the lack of pressure especially with young and hungrier players like Doku, Bakayoko, Trossard, Openda etc. If their defence can step up, I reckon Belgium can make it far this time
@@TheOnlyTaps We wish. In 2014 indeed no pressure, but the players were of a higher Quality. Our defense now won't survive top-8 EURO teams, way to vulnerable (Vertonghen still our best but 36 and slow, Theate is a CB at Bologna but has to play LB because we don't have an alternative and is offensively not very strong, Faes plays in the Championship but with Belgium very insecure never a really good impression or Debast who is still young and talented but maybe physically not yet strong enough for the international level. Our RB Castagne is very decent, but plays for Fulham where in 2014 we had Alderweireld who played for Atletico Madrid, big difference. But i hope they prove us wrong :)
@@woutersca Yeah there's definitely a huge downgrade on the talent in your team but I definitely think they might do better as a unit. At least I'm hoping we see some upsets like we saw at AFCON with the "average" teams being very dangerous for the traditionally big teams. But yeah it will be interesting to see how it plays out. That's where I think maybe the lack of pressure will do them good coz they aren't going into it with a golden generation anymore they're just going into it as one of the teams.
@@woutersca Theate plays at Rennes. Me personally I don't understand why De Winter is not part of the selection. You need some players with speed too when you're up against top teams. Luckily we have a nr. 6 in Onana who's crazy fast and a defensive beast when he has his day.
I love that you see that. As a Belgian, to me winning that cup would be amazing, but isn't required. The fact that our games are enjoyable to watch, is WAY more valuable to me.
@@lemastre awesome. Same here. I’m Mexican American. I root for the Mexican national team even though they can get past the fourth game in World Cup. But the experience. Priceless. I’m going to German for the euro. I’ll root for the Belgian team! let’s go Belgium. 🇧🇪!!
Witsel has returned to play centre back, not as a six which was his previous position. But yes, that defense is a total disaster while until fairly recently it was always Belgium's greatest asset. Reaching the quarter final will be the highest possible goal with this squad, but it's certainly possible if they are a bit lucky with the drawing.
I am Belgian, and here is a summary of the Courtois situation: After the World Cup, the new national team coach, Domenico Tedesco, decided to revamp the team by sidelining certain players. Eden Hazard had decided to retire, leaving the captain's armband vacant. Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Thibaut Courtois aspired to this role, but ultimately, Kevin De Bruyne was elected by the players as the new captain, with Lukaku and Courtois as vice-captains. According to Thibaut, Domenico Tedesco did not speak to him during the first gathering, which he did not appreciate. However, Courtois was reportedly disappointed by this decision. During a match against Austria, he was unhappy because De Bruyne was absent, and Lukaku wore the captain's armband even though it was Courtois' 100th match with the Red Devils. He decided to leave the gathering after the match, citing an injury. Courtois was supposed to be the captain for the second match of the gathering. Tedesco revealed the incident to the media, which caused a scandal. Courtois then published an awkward statement attacking the coach and the fans, followed by a video where he apologized to the fans but not to the coach, whom he finds disrespectful. Shortly after, Courtois suffered a serious injury and announced he would not be able to play in the Euro. Many believe he could have recovered but chose not to play under Tedesco. Additionally, he is already back and could play in the Champions League final. It's also worth noting that several players (Vertonghen, Castagne, Carrasco, and Meunier) have publicly sided with Tedesco. Thibaut Courtois has also made provocative tweets, liked questionable posts, and removed the mention of "Belgian Red Devils" from his Instagram.
as a belgian, I expect Quarter-finals, but don't forget that most of the games we played last year was without KDB. When he was there, we played a better football than over the last 5 to 10 years. SO I don't really know what to expect, without KDB I say at least the round of 16, with KDB it depends on who we gonna face in the 1/4 finals. But I did the predictions on the telegraph and I got Belgium as European champion. So... (remember Italy was a surprise in 2021)
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 don't just stares at names, we are playing more defensively under Tedesco than Martinez, with all due respect though, good video
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 That's why they are (only) expected to bring us nice, exciting, attacking football and great games to watch. Remember Greece taking that cup once with boring defensive football... With this team, we might see 5-3 or 4-6 results in the Quarter Finals... 7-1 is a possibility too lol
Funny you bring up Italy with their record going into the last euros despite having probably their most average team for Italian standards also argentinas record going into the World Cup Belgium haven’t lost and played against Germany Sweden and England could if lukaku decides to be a footballer they have a chance kdb can’t do everything
They are adults. I'm sure they could work things out if they want. The Red Devils are a franchise, a business like the other teams. Shake hands and move on.
Courtois is just a poor mental... He's a kid...We don't want stupid kid with ego in the national team... He's a really good goalkeeper but the mentality is so poor...
As a belgian im very excited to see whats my team can offer...witsel back in the defence is so cool. I hope we can go as far as possible ! We're not here to reach the QF, we're here to win !
Good review. As a Belgian I’m very exited to see what this team is capable of. We will already see the results after the preparation phase with witsel (which is gonna play defence) and De Bruyne (which is back in the squad for the first time in a loooong time). Tedesco we surely try to apply the tactics we will be playing later on the competition so I’m looking forward to these confrontations (Montenegro and Luxembourg). But I still think that we are too weak in defence and can’t compete against the greatest teams. Don’t forget we might play France in the quater finals if they finish first of their group.
As a belgian I think that the squad now is very good, except from the defence. Everything will be good, if the team can keep the ball, because it will get dangerous when the others have a counter attack. I think quarter finals will be sure and semi final will be very good
@@ivanlecky7563 belgium wasn't at their top too, injured players and think from minute 60 no 23+ age players on the field ( except keeper and trossard)
I don't think we should play with 5 at the back if defense is our weakest point. I think 4-4-2 would be great, with doku and carrasco/lukebakio on the wings, striker duo openda and lukaku or trossard and lukaku, because openda isn't rlly shining for belgium. 4-5-1 could also be possible, with mangala as a strong midfielder then.
So far Tedesco consistently tried playing a young central defender alongside Vertonghen. It was either Wout Faes or Zeno Debast (and Koni De Winter once). All of them showed too much weaknesses against the stronger teams they faced so far. Tedesco announced he wasn't happy with that, so he got Witsel back. Witsel - Vertonghen in central defense could be a solid fix for this tournament, although it is unclear if Witsel will be a starter or if he is there to keep the youngsters sharp. About the Courtois situation: you can't replace him in terms of class, he is simply the best keeper around. But so far, not a single player from the entire squad made any remarks against the decision of Tedesco. I guess Courtois really overplayed his hand with his diva behaviour. But I'm not to worried about the squad, they will have a solid keeper regardless. During the first half against England the team was very imbalanced, we were 150% lucky that England didn't score an early goal. The second half was actually rather good when Tedesco decided to put Mangala and Onana as a buffer in front of the vulnerable defense. I think this will be the way to go to keep the team balanced. You could compare it to what France did in WC 2018 with Pogba and Kanté. That was rock solid. For the attacking part, the team now relies heavily on De Bruyne and Lukaku. The match against Germany really was a five star performance by those two. After that De Bruyne got injured for a long time and they surely missed him in many of the other games. Although they did get the results every time, they didn't play that great without him. When we look at the young attackers: Doku is a really exciting player who should be more than capable of making a difference in this tournament. Lukebakio also performed well in almost every game. But they also will need those world class KDB assists to really shine. Belgium is no longer a favourite, but remains a dangerous outsider. Quarter finals should be well within their capabilities. After that, they can still surprise us all.
I think the young defenders will want to prove themselves, they have the quality to do so and a good performance during the euros might get them a move to a big league.
This is the team I believe will start most games: Casteels Castagne - Witsel (or Vertonghen) - Theate - De Cuyper Onana - Tielemans Trossard - De Bruyne - Doku Lukaku
As a Belgian i can tell you that the Courtois situation is anything but simple. Yes he might very well the best keeper we ever had, but he has been causing drama since the first day he donned a Red Devils shirt and now it has finally exploded to the point where it was poisoning the squad and Tedesco had to cut him loose. Courtois has been acting like a spoiled child ever since and I don't see how we can reintegrate him unless he has a massive attitude shift. Yes we may miss his talent in the tournament but there is only one man to blame for that and that is Courtois himself, not Tedesco or anyone else. Dude cares only about himself not his country or the national team.
Casteels will probably be the main goalkeeper, he's really good from Wolfsburg and Tedesco knows him from Germany. Debast might even start instead of Faes, because Vertonghen and him have been playing together for 2 years now at Anderlecht as a centre back pair. They know each other inside and out.
Sorry , but your 5 lowest players on the pitch of your base 11 will be totaly different .Tedesco uses Casteels who is mutch higher ranked than Sels . Casteels 3 times best goalkeeper of the Bundesliga . Anyway , Vertongen is injured and like 60 years old so I don't think he will play , Theate is also injured and I don't think he will be ready . Wout Faes , BIG ??? . Only one to play is Castagne in deffence in your 11 . More like from right to left in defence : Castagne/Meunier , Witsel , Debast , De Cuyper . #wirschaffendas
Casteels is indeed the historical number 2 and therefore the natural number 1... BUT! He has been injured end towards the end of the season and has been leaking goals once he returned. Sels performed really well with us and Forest. The fact that Tedesco refused to announce the starting GK yet means that there is still internal debate. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is Sels. He also said that it will be announced officially before the Euro, so probably based on the friendly performance + Casteels form
Regarding the defense, Theate is still positive to be able to make it on time. If he doesn't it will be Meunier on the right and Castagne on the left, 100%. De Cuyper won't start from day 1. Faes (that I don't like) played all the games and will probably start.
On paper our defense does not look good , but you defend as a team. Also names as Debast and De Cuyper are not well known but they are great players on the ball. Debast is going to Sporting CP for 18 million euros and also De Cuyper is gonna be a left back for a big team in the future.
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 Attack is the best defence , we will not have problems against Slowakia,Romania and Ukraine , we will at least win 2 of those games i'm sure. And against bigger teams like France,Spain,Portugal and England can be deadly on counter attacks , we won in Germany 2-3 last year and we draw with England 2-2 (without Kevin De Bruyne) , and conceeded in last seconds of that game in minute 96. It shows that we conceede but even Germany and England with better defense on paper does not look good in reality as well. The only nations that have really good defenders is France and Netherlands.
@@Maxim1993-n6o Well if KDB plays the other teams are allready trembling in their boots :-p lets hope we wont face portugal again for another deadly tackle on KDB...
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 Debast is a true baller, but not a great defender at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually ends up in midfield with his new club.
@@davyhaegeman8804 Eh, he has improved alot tho, defensively. His game against England was pretty decent, i would even say he had a better game than Vertonghen.
Those old guys like Vertongen, Alderweireld, Mertens and Witsel made themselves hard to ignore. All 4 played an excellent season with their club. And I do not know who would replace them.
Our defense is indeed simply too weak, too slow. Quarter finals max or maybe even just round of 16. Old Meunier plays in Turkey and old Carrasco even plays in Saudi league. I expect Vertonghen and Faes to tackle the man and not the ball, penalty, red. I'm quite pessimistic. Not called up: Lavia (even if doctors said he should be back in time) could have gained some experience in the upcoming friendly's, De Winter, Saelemaekers... We have some good wingers but against the big teams it won't be enough. Transition phase. At least I'm glad Tedesco left out troublemaker Courtois. Conclusion: We will score some bangers, but we'll make too many mistakes in order to have a deep run. Good video!
Why on earth mention Lavia ? he has not played a single min the whole season . even Eden Hazard has made more minutes this season and he retired ( benefit game ) . and on the defence , imo best option would be to fall back to a 5 man defence with castagne ( pretty solid season at fulham ) - Witsel ( great season in a topteam at this position ) - Verthongen ( lost his legs but can lead with his experience ) - Theate ( his run speed is required here with witsel and verthongen ) - De cuyper ( imo great upcoming back with alot of atacking potential and works hard for the team ) . If they rly stick to a 4 man defence with Debast or Faes in the centre then they wont make it far , both players make at least 1 mistake each match and on international level thats somthing to avoid .
It’s obvious we won’t see the full potential of the new generation yet. It will take two to four years to see them at a level where they can be challengers again. Now we are just there to grow as a team and get some experience. There is only a minimum of expectation and pressure from the outside world. To be honest, I do believe this team can be another Golden Generation. Guys like Onana, Vermeeren, De Ketelaere, Vandervoordt, Doku,… have immense talent. And don’t forget there’s more to come with guys like Duranville and Lavia. If they can have two more successful seasons on high level without too much injuries… It’s too bad that there are players fell away to “close the generational gap” in between. Players like Januzaj, Origi, Musonda Junior, Junior Malanda, Andreas Pereira, Van Heusden,… were hoped to be the stars right now of Belgium, but for a variety of reasons they are not wearing our shirt right this tournament. I’m hopeful this coming generation will do better. Players like Doku, Onana, and others are already playing on high level, while a players like Dries Mertens and Witsel were playing at a lower level at that age. Final point, let’s be clear of what a Golden Generation for us should mean: it’s an high level generation which does far better than the normal level of Belgium as a small country. It’s much more difficult for us to collect 25 great players compared to big countries like England, France, Brazil, Spain,… who have much more players to chose from and bigger financial resources. Even they didn’t win a cup, for me the last generation is still a Golden Generation for the great victories and moments in football they gave us. This fresh new one could perhaps do the same in time. Let’s see.
I would put Witsel in place of Faes. He is doing very well in the championship, but when I see his matches in Belgium, he makes some big mistakes, even against smaller opponents. He had made two such mistakes, one against Azerbaijan and one against Sweden, where twice he was not strong enough and Witsel has the experience to be able to do that well. I also think that we will see a completely different Belgium with KDB there. KDB's last match with the Belgians was against Germany and we were simply unbelievable. I started to see the game again that we used to play. KDB also had 2 assists and a goal there. I really think that Belgium can surprise this European Championship and really go far, but then they have to get their defense perfect, but I think if you put Witsel there you can see another Belgium, but I think that after their You will find out more in 2 practice matches.
best xi: Castagne - Theate - Witsel - De cuyper Onana - KDB - Mangala Lukebakeyo - Lukaku - Trossard With thé entrance of Doku, openda or bakayoko after half-time Cdk, tielmans to adapt tactic
Yes, I think Tedesco will play 4-2-3-1. In your line-up I would switch Doku and Trossard. Trossard has to come inside to shoot with his right foot. Doku can dribble left or right, doesn't matter. I wouldn't be surprised though if Lukebakio would play on the AMR. I'm not sure if Tielemans will play. Tedesco seems to favour Mangala due to his energy. At the back I think we should expect Witsel. He didn't come back out of retirement to be benched. He has played a full season on a high level as CB with Atleti. Vertonghen is almost 38 and is recovering from injury. Not the safest bet. Theate is also recovering from injury and is not a natural LB, so I suppose we may see Maxim De Cuyper on LB. He's the future on that position although he is more a wing back. I think we'll definitely see De Cuyper during the group stage where we'll need a more attacking player against the smaller teams. That would give Theate some more time to recover and get into shape.
Amazing how on point you are on our 🇧🇪 squad. Better then most of our pundits. From the doubts on Faes, the history of missing in game mgmt from Martinez, to the threat we can impose attackingly on teams. Only remark: Witsel is selected as defender. He wouldn't be able to complete for the midfielder position. I would have prefered Toby Alderweireld. He is the best belgian CB today (better then Vertonghen, Witsel etc). And I think he would be happy to help the national team of the coach bothered to ask to him.
Weird to see the whole world defending Courtois, literally every Belgian is on Tedescos side. Courtois is too arrogant and refused to play, we are happy without him.
The press has been played by Tedesco and Vercauteren does not have the balls to kick Tedesco out. Biggest problem for Belgium was not the quality of the players but poor managers.
Axel witsel at centerback off course. Jan is injured, Witsel too slow for midfield and it is allready stacked. Witsel in team of the year contention in la Liga. You didnt do your research.
Big up michael...one player ...DOKU ...if they can improve Defence, serve him and lukaku then they can cook on some counter attacks rather than counter pressing whe. their defence is weak in isolation as you say
Good starting lineup. However, I'd like to see De Katalaré instead of Trossard. Also Witsel instead of Vertonghèn. He had a solid season with Atlético as a CD. After 60 minutes, they can bring in Bakayoko on the right wing, trossard on the left wing or Openda as a 9. If KDB can't play 90 minutes, substitute him for Vermeeren towards the end of the game.
Hope and think they will bring some exciting football on the pitch, that's all they really need to do: to make these Euros worth to watch. Defense is a nightmare but as an attacking squad they are probably as good as France. Witsel as CB may be a good idea. IMO Doku most exciting player, he could really destroy left wing defenders and he can put it on a plate for Lukaku.
Yes, the defenders aren't great, but if Witsel and Vertonghen are fit they could do well with their experience. Defending is a team effort, Onana could do really well helping out his team. And obviously players like Lukaku and Doku always keep the opposition calculated in offense.
We have decent players in the back many country´s would be glad to have such quality, And if this defence are back-up with the defensive midfielders like onana and mangala we can dig in if needed
I think they shouldve brought Hans Vanaken, in case KDB gets injured. He only selected 25 players with 2 youngsters in Arne Engels and Mandela Keita as extras and might select one of those two as the 26th, i just dont think its their time just yet while with vanaken who had a really good couple of matches you know he can replace KDB better than anyone else in the squad right now
The main guy missing is Batshuayi, Openda is an amazing striker, but he hasn’t performed for Belgium, mainly because he’s always subbed in in a system that’s made around Lukaku and Openda is a different type of striker. Bats can fill the position better as Lukaku sub. But in the end it would be criminal to leave out Openda after the season he’s had, even if he doesn’t fit well in our system and has yet to prove himself for Belgium. Bats also had a great season, but at Fener, and he wasn’t the starter even though he scored every 77 mins, 24 goals in 1865 minutes. Aster Vranckx on the other hand has no business being called up over some others, Vanaken or De Sart from the Belgian league have had amazing seasons, Vanaken is another offensive type of midfielder, De Sart a more defensive one, but a regista type of player. Those 2 are probably the best belgian midfielders in the competition and both would have deserved a call up imo. Also think De Cuyper should start as LB, he’s getting a transfer to a top 4 league for sure this summer, and it would allow Theate to move to the LCB position, where he’s at his best and probably the best CB we have.
To be complete: the three games afther the loss against Morocco and before the draw against austria were: Belgium - Croatia 0-0 (World cup group stage) Sweden - Belgium 0-3 (Euro Qualification game) Germany - Belgium 2-3 (Friendly)
My expectation is Quarters, we should win the group and make it past R16, if we don’t win the group we’ll get a tough opponent in R16 and probably drop there, another group stage exit would be disastrous.
Belgium will probably not make it out of the quarterfinals. Our team isn't together for long enough and like you said our defense isn't what it used to be. I'd be glad if they prove me wrong but it would be overachieving.
Our defence is crap, good midfield and insane attack. But without Courtois and with a lack of good new young players, I would be happy if we make it to the 1/4 final...
As a Belgian, ofcourse I want my team to do well but I have to stay realistic and say that quarterfinals is the highest we can get this Euro's. I think we'll win the group but then get knocked out in the round of 16.
So if you somehow manage to win round of 16, do you really think there's a probability of 0% of winning quarter final? Maybe you should place all your money on the opponent to win quarter final then, easy profit no?
as a belgian, i feel like we always get unlucky with matchups or maybe i'm on copium, but like every wc or ek we have to vs france so early when belgium, france should be a finals imo.
I'll give u how I think we should lineup GK: Sels RB: Castagne CBs: Witsel and Vertonghen (Witsel cuz of the experience at least he gets a place in the team and helps us cuz I ain't trusting Faes) LB:Theate CDM:Onana CMs: De Bruyne and Carrasco (u forgot about Carrasco he's really good still and should start Ik that would leave Tielemans out but Carrasco left out is disrespectful he will perform well) LW:Doku RW:Trossard (as u said he can play there and would not put Doku RW and Trossard LW cuz Doku on the left can beat any defender) ST: Lukaku Quarter finals is the expectations for us imo cuz before the quarters it would be bad (unless in the R16 we face Italy or Croatia but we should still win) and past the quarters it means we beat France and move on we would overachieve for sure
@@RespecTheLevYTthat's all we got💀 Theate can work out well fr he hasn't been bad but I ain't trusting Faes at all especially that we have Witsel who can play CB
Honestly, Belgium could end up anywhere and I'd be happy with a round of 8 placement. I'd say the selection is well-balanced enough and acceptable. -No Courtois is based, his ego is not needed and we got more than decent back-ups -Maxim De Cuyper should've been called sooner to set up better for 3CBs and deadly crosses with him and Meunier. -Witsel should still be a no brainer for his calming ability and solidity even as CDM. So glad he's back! -No Batshuayi is maybe his biggest mistake imo. He's a striker that got finition and opportunities when confident and would've been clutch without a doubt (Now pretty sure it's the end for Batshuayi with that decision). I'd even take him over Openda as I don't see him integrating in Tedesco's system after his short but very poor showing with the national team lately. Ideal 11: GK: Sels (for concentration & lot of work) CB: Castagne-Vertonghen-Theate (for mobility) RM: Meunier CDM: Witsel-Onana LM: De Cuyper (for crosses & defense reinforcement) COM: De Bruyne-Trossard (for in-betweens play) STR: Lukaku (for crosses reception & physicality) Bringing Bakayoko or / Doku later to crucify with speed
Lol, Pls no not Witsel as the CDM. He does not pass the ball forward... The only time he played any ball forward is when he came back from China before his injury... So roughly for 3 months he knew how to kick the ball forward...
If Belgium doesn't exist in the future as a country (which could happen because of political issues inside the country) You can mix Belgium attack and Netherland defense. That would be a really good team
There are some small mistakes in your video. We played Germany and England under Tedesco, not small opponents, Casteels will be our number one goalkeeper most surely, Witsel is coming as a defender (official), Vertonghen is unsure with injury, Kevin De Bruyne has been playing since January and has been crazy good since, we have great attackers, but he's perhaps the best player in the world.
Courtois has trouble with the whole team. He wouldnt share the captain position and so he told everybody he was injured when he wasnt. 6months later he apolegized on national tv
I think that because of the weaker defence Belgium has finally adapted to a more realistic defending and counter-attacking style rather than possession, high position and technical creative attacking under Martinez. Their attack is very scary on the counter, insane amounts of speed and perfect midfielders to play the perfect through passes. There's a reason France does so well every tournament and it is because they play a similar tournament style. Quarter-finals is very realistic, after that it'll depend massively on the fitness of the squad, any injuries to players like KDB will end their tournament very quickly.
Thank You for the insights you share. It's clear to me that you study Football and work hard at knowing what you are talking about. I am a new subscriber. Keep up the great work you are doing.
I think Belgium is ok and I don’t think they are worthy of the third place I do think they are a bit underrated. Literally I always see hate and that’s not deserved. I hope they show there new talents. (I’m Belgian BTW)
Saying I'm not gonna disrespect Jan Vertonghen... just before disrespecting him by saying his legs are old. No comments on the positives he will bring to the team?
Few other opinions, especially if we don't take into consideration the form of Trossard/Tielemans: Bakayoko will get at least some starting from the right wing, maybe even lukebakio that the coach loves. I don't see Trossard starting there :) (hope this comment will age well). Tielemans is not 100% nailed anymore and Trossard could also play more central, with KDB a bit behind. Tedesco also loves the combination Onana - Mangala, if he finds his form before the Euro it could be the pair with KDB higher up the pitch and Trossard on the bench. Witsel come back can force a change of system to a back 3 (in that case, Castagne has done good game there too). If Theate is fit he will be the left back (4 at the back), not De Cuyper as written in some comments.
Yes but we all want De Cuyper there... Theate is not a left back and personaly I think it's even insane that only now De Cuyper gets his chance since he's the only real LB for Belgium for a while now. He has more than enough potential with his 15 assists and 5 goals this season as a left back
@@archy7547 completely agree on De Cuyper timing... But then has to play and convince in the friendlies... I love the player, don't get me wrong. But I don't see him start the competition. Also because Castagne Can play there if he decides to put Meunier on the right. Talking here about prediction, not my own wishes ;)
This team is going to go further than the last, in terms of talent theres an awful lot. In all departments. The only place where it could go wrong is by making the wrong transfer moves like CDK to AC Milan that could have derailed his whole career, Vermeeren to Atletico seems to be derailing his at the moment. Raskin to Rangers derailed his after injury. In terms of raw talent this new gen is very close to the golden generation.
Belgium might have a weaker defence ... true ... But you still win games by scoring more then you concede :D Personally I think we can win or loose against every team.
Our defense is terrible ... The thing is , the golden generation wasn't that golden after all , a lot of players didn't really lived up to the hype ... Origi , Januzaj , Batshuay , Bakkali , Praet , etc etc and we had a horrible coach for years
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 that’s awesome. Finland. Btw. You have great ball knowledge. It’s hard to tell where you are from because you know so much about football. I’m from Southern California. Grew up in Los Angeles. Played soccer since I was 7. Dad played for Atlas in Mexico when he was young. Keep up the great work!
Courtois cannot play or he will destroy the team. Good riddance. About that idiotic marketing term of golden generation, its just that, idiotic. I feel Belgium is much stronger than before. As you said, many people with a winning attitude and an interesting coach. (good riddance Martinez too ) Go Belgium!
I think they maybe will go further this time. Because there isn’t any pressure on them anymore. World Cup 2014 was the same thing. New generation, later called “The Golden Generation” and they reached the quarter finals without any pressure. So this is the position where they are at their best. Don’t underestimate our talented team. But I can be wrong and this can turn out very badly. So fingers crossed.
True. The lack of pressure may actually work for them.
They might be able to express themselves a bit more under the lack of pressure especially with young and hungrier players like Doku, Bakayoko, Trossard, Openda etc. If their defence can step up, I reckon Belgium can make it far this time
@@TheOnlyTaps We wish. In 2014 indeed no pressure, but the players were of a higher Quality. Our defense now won't survive top-8 EURO teams, way to vulnerable (Vertonghen still our best but 36 and slow, Theate is a CB at Bologna but has to play LB because we don't have an alternative and is offensively not very strong, Faes plays in the Championship but with Belgium very insecure never a really good impression or Debast who is still young and talented but maybe physically not yet strong enough for the international level. Our RB Castagne is very decent, but plays for Fulham where in 2014 we had Alderweireld who played for Atletico Madrid, big difference. But i hope they prove us wrong :)
@@woutersca Yeah there's definitely a huge downgrade on the talent in your team but I definitely think they might do better as a unit. At least I'm hoping we see some upsets like we saw at AFCON with the "average" teams being very dangerous for the traditionally big teams.
But yeah it will be interesting to see how it plays out. That's where I think maybe the lack of pressure will do them good coz they aren't going into it with a golden generation anymore they're just going into it as one of the teams.
@@woutersca Theate plays at Rennes. Me personally I don't understand why De Winter is not part of the selection. You need some players with speed too when you're up against top teams. Luckily we have a nr. 6 in Onana who's crazy fast and a defensive beast when he has his day.
Love the Belgians. They have a true love for the game.
I love that you see that. As a Belgian, to me winning that cup would be amazing, but isn't required. The fact that our games are enjoyable to watch, is WAY more valuable to me.
@@lemastre awesome. Same here. I’m Mexican American. I root for the Mexican national team even though they can get past the fourth game in World Cup. But the experience. Priceless. I’m going to German for the euro. I’ll root for the Belgian team! let’s go Belgium. 🇧🇪!!
Witsel has returned to play centre back, not as a six which was his previous position. But yes, that defense is a total disaster while until fairly recently it was always Belgium's greatest asset. Reaching the quarter final will be the highest possible goal with this squad, but it's certainly possible if they are a bit lucky with the drawing.
2018 world cup had a good mixture of elite attack and solid defense now one of those elements is gone
We will probably have to face France in the quarter finals if we win our group. Maybe the Netherlands
I am Belgian, and here is a summary of the Courtois situation:
After the World Cup, the new national team coach, Domenico Tedesco, decided to revamp the team by sidelining certain players. Eden Hazard had decided to retire, leaving the captain's armband vacant. Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Thibaut Courtois aspired to this role, but ultimately, Kevin De Bruyne was elected by the players as the new captain, with Lukaku and Courtois as vice-captains. According to Thibaut, Domenico Tedesco did not speak to him during the first gathering, which he did not appreciate.
However, Courtois was reportedly disappointed by this decision. During a match against Austria, he was unhappy because De Bruyne was absent, and Lukaku wore the captain's armband even though it was Courtois' 100th match with the Red Devils. He decided to leave the gathering after the match, citing an injury. Courtois was supposed to be the captain for the second match of the gathering.
Tedesco revealed the incident to the media, which caused a scandal. Courtois then published an awkward statement attacking the coach and the fans, followed by a video where he apologized to the fans but not to the coach, whom he finds disrespectful.
Shortly after, Courtois suffered a serious injury and announced he would not be able to play in the Euro. Many believe he could have recovered but chose not to play under Tedesco. Additionally, he is already back and could play in the Champions League final.
It's also worth noting that several players (Vertonghen, Castagne, Carrasco, and Meunier) have publicly sided with Tedesco.
Thibaut Courtois has also made provocative tweets, liked questionable posts, and removed the mention of "Belgian Red Devils" from his Instagram.
Don't forget banging KDB's girlfriend. Talk about respect what does he expect...
To be honest we need Courtois. But not his ego
I dont think we do, I feel like we just have a lot of very good keepers.
Beautifully said, its ugly how his ego is taller than himself
you ever played team sport? One asshole can really fuck things up
He´s playing again for madrid why´s he not selected?
@@KoBez44 There are some things between the coach and Courtois. Tbf i noticed in Belguim we dont really want him back.
They also won in a friendly against Germany. The first half was really impressive
DOKU will be FIRE in this tournament for BELGIUM.
He will pull off so many great dribbles but somehow hes gonna have 0 goals and 1 assist by the time belgium is eliminated
@@lemmee3637 We will see
@@lemmee3637 There we go,
Doku already got his first assist.
Sadly on the wrong side.
Hahahaha
as a belgian, I expect Quarter-finals, but don't forget that most of the games we played last year was without KDB. When he was there, we played a better football than over the last 5 to 10 years. SO I don't really know what to expect, without KDB I say at least the round of 16, with KDB it depends on who we gonna face in the 1/4 finals. But I did the predictions on the telegraph and I got Belgium as European champion. So... (remember Italy was a surprise in 2021)
Ofc KDB elevates the attack but defensively this team cannot be relied upon
Lets be honest even in the Golden generation if KDB wasnt on the pitch Belgium performed piss poor...
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 don't just stares at names, we are playing more defensively under Tedesco than Martinez, with all due respect though, good video
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 That's why they are (only) expected to bring us nice, exciting, attacking football and great games to watch. Remember Greece taking that cup once with boring defensive football... With this team, we might see 5-3 or 4-6 results in the Quarter Finals... 7-1 is a possibility too lol
Funny you bring up Italy with their record going into the last euros despite having probably their most average team for Italian standards also argentinas record going into the World Cup Belgium haven’t lost and played against Germany Sweden and England could if lukaku decides to be a footballer they have a chance kdb can’t do everything
Lol, Courtois can stay in Madrid. Little kid's upset he couldn't be the captain in one of the friendlies
They are adults. I'm sure they could work things out if they want. The Red Devils are a franchise, a business like the other teams. Shake hands and move on.
@@gwenwalravens8030 Tell that Courtois, he is the one who refused to talk and instead spams smileys on his social medias like a little child.
Courtois is just a poor mental... He's a kid...We don't want stupid kid with ego in the national team... He's a really good goalkeeper but the mentality is so poor...
@@Afura33 Yeah, I know. He has the maturity of a pink polar bear.
@@gwenwalravens8030 yea it's pretty sad for an adult to behave like this, like in a kindergarten.
As a belgian im very excited to see whats my team can offer...witsel back in the defence is so cool. I hope we can go as far as possible ! We're not here to reach the QF, we're here to win !
Pronunciation is amazing man. I love how you broke it down country by country.
Pronunciation is really not it. Not bad, but bottles a lot (!) of names.
Good review. As a Belgian I’m very exited to see what this team is capable of. We will already see the results after the preparation phase with witsel (which is gonna play defence) and De Bruyne (which is back in the squad for the first time in a loooong time). Tedesco we surely try to apply the tactics we will be playing later on the competition so I’m looking forward to these confrontations (Montenegro and Luxembourg).
But I still think that we are too weak in defence and can’t compete against the greatest teams. Don’t forget we might play France in the quater finals if they finish first of their group.
And I don't know if I can take another France loss...
Another France loss oh no... 3rd time is the charm
Well, this team needs experience and growth. We can expect more of it two or four years from now.
As a belgian I think that the squad now is very good, except from the defence. Everything will be good, if the team can keep the ball, because it will get dangerous when the others have a counter attack. I think quarter finals will be sure and semi final will be very good
9:32 tedesco destroyed Germany with belgium already
Germany was terrible at this moment. They lost all their matches France excepted
@@ivanlecky7563 belgium wasn't at their top too, injured players and think from minute 60 no 23+ age players on the field ( except keeper and trossard)
Belgium also won against Germany in a friendly in march last year under Tedesco
Might see a 5 at the back.
Casteels/Sels
Castagne-Witsel-Theate-Vertonghen-De Cuyper
Onana-De Bruyne
Trossard-Lukaku-Doku
Meunier always performed well for the Belgians so I actually see him playing on the right while Castagne moves to the left
I don't think we should play with 5 at the back if defense is our weakest point. I think 4-4-2 would be great, with doku and carrasco/lukebakio on the wings, striker duo openda and lukaku or trossard and lukaku, because openda isn't rlly shining for belgium. 4-5-1 could also be possible, with mangala as a strong midfielder then.
@@pepijnbedert3-5-2 is the only way to switch formation
So far Tedesco consistently tried playing a young central defender alongside Vertonghen. It was either Wout Faes or Zeno Debast (and Koni De Winter once). All of them showed too much weaknesses against the stronger teams they faced so far. Tedesco announced he wasn't happy with that, so he got Witsel back. Witsel - Vertonghen in central defense could be a solid fix for this tournament, although it is unclear if Witsel will be a starter or if he is there to keep the youngsters sharp.
About the Courtois situation: you can't replace him in terms of class, he is simply the best keeper around. But so far, not a single player from the entire squad made any remarks against the decision of Tedesco. I guess Courtois really overplayed his hand with his diva behaviour. But I'm not to worried about the squad, they will have a solid keeper regardless.
During the first half against England the team was very imbalanced, we were 150% lucky that England didn't score an early goal. The second half was actually rather good when Tedesco decided to put Mangala and Onana as a buffer in front of the vulnerable defense. I think this will be the way to go to keep the team balanced. You could compare it to what France did in WC 2018 with Pogba and Kanté. That was rock solid.
For the attacking part, the team now relies heavily on De Bruyne and Lukaku. The match against Germany really was a five star performance by those two. After that De Bruyne got injured for a long time and they surely missed him in many of the other games. Although they did get the results every time, they didn't play that great without him.
When we look at the young attackers: Doku is a really exciting player who should be more than capable of making a difference in this tournament. Lukebakio also performed well in almost every game. But they also will need those world class KDB assists to really shine.
Belgium is no longer a favourite, but remains a dangerous outsider. Quarter finals should be well within their capabilities. After that, they can still surprise us all.
I think the young defenders will want to prove themselves, they have the quality to do so and a good performance during the euros might get them a move to a big league.
This is the team I believe will start most games:
Casteels
Castagne - Witsel (or Vertonghen) - Theate - De Cuyper
Onana - Tielemans
Trossard - De Bruyne - Doku
Lukaku
As a Belgian i can tell you that the Courtois situation is anything but simple. Yes he might very well the best keeper we ever had, but he has been causing drama since the first day he donned a Red Devils shirt and now it has finally exploded to the point where it was poisoning the squad and Tedesco had to cut him loose. Courtois has been acting like a spoiled child ever since and I don't see how we can reintegrate him unless he has a massive attitude shift. Yes we may miss his talent in the tournament but there is only one man to blame for that and that is Courtois himself, not Tedesco or anyone else. Dude cares only about himself not his country or the national team.
How he left Genk alone is indicative of his personality and ego
Casteels will probably be the main goalkeeper, he's really good from Wolfsburg and Tedesco knows him from Germany. Debast might even start instead of Faes, because Vertonghen and him have been playing together for 2 years now at Anderlecht as a centre back pair. They know each other inside and out.
Witsel will be used as a defender and not as a midfielder. Look what he did during the last season at Athletico
Sorry , but your 5 lowest players on the pitch of your base 11 will be totaly different .Tedesco uses Casteels who is mutch higher ranked than Sels . Casteels 3 times best goalkeeper of the Bundesliga . Anyway , Vertongen is injured and like 60 years old so I don't think he will play , Theate is also injured and I don't think he will be ready . Wout Faes , BIG ??? . Only one to play is Castagne in deffence in your 11 . More like from right to left in defence : Castagne/Meunier , Witsel , Debast , De Cuyper . #wirschaffendas
Sels has started recently for Belgium so assumed he would start, I mean its better not to start Faes. Plus Debast is apparently a beast so lets see!
Casteels is indeed the historical number 2 and therefore the natural number 1... BUT! He has been injured end towards the end of the season and has been leaking goals once he returned. Sels performed really well with us and Forest. The fact that Tedesco refused to announce the starting GK yet means that there is still internal debate. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is Sels. He also said that it will be announced officially before the Euro, so probably based on the friendly performance + Casteels form
Regarding the defense, Theate is still positive to be able to make it on time. If he doesn't it will be Meunier on the right and Castagne on the left, 100%. De Cuyper won't start from day 1.
Faes (that I don't like) played all the games and will probably start.
@@MichaelTalksFootball1because casteels was injured
Vertonghen, if he's fit, will be in the starting five for sure
On paper our defense does not look good , but you defend as a team.
Also names as Debast and De Cuyper are not well known but they are great players on the ball. Debast is going to Sporting CP for 18 million euros and also De Cuyper is gonna be a left back for a big team in the future.
Yeah Debast ive been reading is a very good CB for the future, but ofc you defend as a team but how many times were they tested in qualifiers
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 Attack is the best defence , we will not have problems against Slowakia,Romania and Ukraine , we will at least win 2 of those games i'm sure. And against bigger teams like France,Spain,Portugal and England can be deadly on counter attacks , we won in Germany 2-3 last year and we draw with England 2-2 (without Kevin De Bruyne) , and conceeded in last seconds of that game in minute 96. It shows that we conceede but even Germany and England with better defense on paper does not look good in reality as well. The only nations that have really good defenders is France and Netherlands.
@@Maxim1993-n6o Well if KDB plays the other teams are allready trembling in their boots :-p lets hope we wont face portugal again for another deadly tackle on KDB...
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 Debast is a true baller, but not a great defender at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually ends up in midfield with his new club.
@@davyhaegeman8804 Eh, he has improved alot tho, defensively. His game against England was pretty decent, i would even say he had a better game than Vertonghen.
Those old guys like Vertongen, Alderweireld, Mertens and Witsel made themselves hard to ignore. All 4 played an excellent season with their club. And I do not know who would replace them.
Our defense is indeed simply too weak, too slow. Quarter finals max or maybe even just round of 16. Old Meunier plays in Turkey and old Carrasco even plays in Saudi league. I expect Vertonghen and Faes to tackle the man and not the ball, penalty, red. I'm quite pessimistic. Not called up: Lavia (even if doctors said he should be back in time) could have gained some experience in the upcoming friendly's, De Winter, Saelemaekers... We have some good wingers but against the big teams it won't be enough. Transition phase. At least I'm glad Tedesco left out troublemaker Courtois. Conclusion: We will score some bangers, but we'll make too many mistakes in order to have a deep run. Good video!
Totally forgot about Lavia😅
Why on earth mention Lavia ? he has not played a single min the whole season . even Eden Hazard has made more minutes this season and he retired ( benefit game ) . and on the defence , imo best option would be to fall back to a 5 man defence with castagne ( pretty solid season at fulham ) - Witsel ( great season in a topteam at this position ) - Verthongen ( lost his legs but can lead with his experience ) - Theate ( his run speed is required here with witsel and verthongen ) - De cuyper ( imo great upcoming back with alot of atacking potential and works hard for the team ) . If they rly stick to a 4 man defence with Debast or Faes in the centre then they wont make it far , both players make at least 1 mistake each match and on international level thats somthing to avoid .
@@MrCripIer Lavia is love, Lavia is life
@@wardje5195 and Lavia is injury
I thought De winter was injured, and big fan of salemaekers,but he's weakness might be his capabilitie to play a lot of positions
It’s obvious we won’t see the full potential of the new generation yet. It will take two to four years to see them at a level where they can be challengers again. Now we are just there to grow as a team and get some experience. There is only a minimum of expectation and pressure from the outside world.
To be honest, I do believe this team can be another Golden Generation. Guys like Onana, Vermeeren, De Ketelaere, Vandervoordt, Doku,… have immense talent. And don’t forget there’s more to come with guys like Duranville and Lavia. If they can have two more successful seasons on high level without too much injuries…
It’s too bad that there are players fell away to “close the generational gap” in between. Players like Januzaj, Origi, Musonda Junior, Junior Malanda, Andreas Pereira, Van Heusden,… were hoped to be the stars right now of Belgium, but for a variety of reasons they are not wearing our shirt right this tournament.
I’m hopeful this coming generation will do better. Players like Doku, Onana, and others are already playing on high level, while a players like Dries Mertens and Witsel were playing at a lower level at that age.
Final point, let’s be clear of what a Golden Generation for us should mean: it’s an high level generation which does far better than the normal level of Belgium as a small country. It’s much more difficult for us to collect 25 great players compared to big countries like England, France, Brazil, Spain,… who have much more players to chose from and bigger financial resources. Even they didn’t win a cup, for me the last generation is still a Golden Generation for the great victories and moments in football they gave us. This fresh new one could perhaps do the same in time. Let’s see.
Great preview! Almost spot on, except maybe for Witsel who will definitely play as central defender. Quarter final would be nice.
I would put Witsel in place of Faes. He is doing very well in the championship, but when I see his matches in Belgium, he makes some big mistakes, even against smaller opponents. He had made two such mistakes, one against Azerbaijan and one against Sweden, where twice he was not strong enough and Witsel has the experience to be able to do that well. I also think that we will see a completely different Belgium with KDB there. KDB's last match with the Belgians was against Germany and we were simply unbelievable. I started to see the game again that we used to play. KDB also had 2 assists and a goal there. I really think that Belgium can surprise this European Championship and really go far, but then they have to get their defense perfect, but I think if you put Witsel there you can see another Belgium, but I think that after their You will find out more in 2 practice matches.
As a person living in Belgium I must say… no just no. They wasted their golden generation on a Wigan Athletic coach BRUH
Yep...
best xi:
Castagne - Theate - Witsel - De cuyper
Onana - KDB - Mangala
Lukebakeyo - Lukaku - Trossard
With thé entrance of Doku, openda or bakayoko after half-time
Cdk, tielmans to adapt tactic
I would play with a goal keeper, but what do I know
Keep An eye on De Cuyper!!! Left flank with Doku and Lukaku as finisher is deadly!!!
2:40 How the CARS 3 universe was made:
No Kompany No Party 😢
Of course, Hazard is no more. Injuries have destroyed his career completely.
Yes, I think Tedesco will play 4-2-3-1. In your line-up I would switch Doku and Trossard. Trossard has to come inside to shoot with his right foot. Doku can dribble left or right, doesn't matter. I wouldn't be surprised though if Lukebakio would play on the AMR. I'm not sure if Tielemans will play. Tedesco seems to favour Mangala due to his energy. At the back I think we should expect Witsel. He didn't come back out of retirement to be benched. He has played a full season on a high level as CB with Atleti. Vertonghen is almost 38 and is recovering from injury. Not the safest bet. Theate is also recovering from injury and is not a natural LB, so I suppose we may see Maxim De Cuyper on LB. He's the future on that position although he is more a wing back. I think we'll definitely see De Cuyper during the group stage where we'll need a more attacking player against the smaller teams. That would give Theate some more time to recover and get into shape.
Witsel is selected to play center back.I hope he will start
I would go for sels - csstagne - theate - Vertonghen - de cuyper - onana - tielemans - bakayoko - kdb - doku -lukaku
the best euro 2024 commentary on youtube rn
Amazing how on point you are on our 🇧🇪 squad. Better then most of our pundits. From the doubts on Faes, the history of missing in game mgmt from Martinez, to the threat we can impose attackingly on teams. Only remark: Witsel is selected as defender. He wouldn't be able to complete for the midfielder position.
I would have prefered Toby Alderweireld. He is the best belgian CB today (better then Vertonghen, Witsel etc). And I think he would be happy to help the national team of the coach bothered to ask to him.
Sorry to see you're getting delusional, no way alderweireld is better then vertonghen
Weird to see the whole world defending Courtois, literally every Belgian is on Tedescos side. Courtois is too arrogant and refused to play, we are happy without him.
Swede here: he's a spoiled brat
"we are happy without him" ? COPE. Odds of Belgium winning Euro 24 decrease by atleast 6.9% without Courtois.
The press has been played by Tedesco and Vercauteren does not have the balls to kick Tedesco out. Biggest problem for Belgium was not the quality of the players but poor managers.
@@kurtjacobs8834The whole country supports Tedesco, including me
I’m Belgian, Courtois ans Todesco got some beefs earlier this week about the captain badge. But Courtois will comeback after the Euro
Axel witsel at centerback off course. Jan is injured, Witsel too slow for midfield and it is allready stacked. Witsel in team of the year contention in la Liga. You didnt do your research.
I did say Witsel can play CB as well but his played in a back 3 at Atletico so can he switch to a back 4
Big up michael...one player ...DOKU ...if they can improve Defence, serve him and lukaku then they can cook on some counter attacks rather than counter pressing whe. their defence is weak in isolation as you say
Recht naar de finale jongeuh!!!!!
🇧🇪❤️
🇷🇴🤝🏼🇧🇪
Good starting lineup. However, I'd like to see De Katalaré instead of Trossard. Also Witsel instead of Vertonghèn. He had a solid season with Atlético as a CD. After 60 minutes, they can bring in Bakayoko on the right wing, trossard on the left wing or Openda as a 9. If KDB can't play 90 minutes, substitute him for Vermeeren towards the end of the game.
Hope and think they will bring some exciting football on the pitch, that's all they really need to do: to make these Euros worth to watch. Defense is a nightmare but as an attacking squad they are probably as good as France. Witsel as CB may be a good idea. IMO Doku most exciting player, he could really destroy left wing defenders and he can put it on a plate for Lukaku.
Yes, the defenders aren't great, but if Witsel and Vertonghen are fit they could do well with their experience. Defending is a team effort, Onana could do really well helping out his team. And obviously players like Lukaku and Doku always keep the opposition calculated in offense.
We have decent players in the back many country´s would be glad to have such quality, And if this defence are back-up with the defensive midfielders like onana and mangala we can dig in if needed
I think they shouldve brought Hans Vanaken, in case KDB gets injured. He only selected 25 players with 2 youngsters in Arne Engels and Mandela Keita as extras and might select one of those two as the 26th, i just dont think its their time just yet while with vanaken who had a really good couple of matches you know he can replace KDB better than anyone else in the squad right now
As a Belgian for the defence the lineup will be Casteels Castagne-Witsel-Debast-decuyper
Onana-Mangala
Bakayoko-KDB-Doku
Lukaku
Our defense isnt great but this is insane. You really need to mirror them against other defenders and not against our attack.
Good analysis. With some luck we will reach the semi-finals. And then ...
we have beaten germany to where is that info?
The main guy missing is Batshuayi, Openda is an amazing striker, but he hasn’t performed for Belgium, mainly because he’s always subbed in in a system that’s made around Lukaku and Openda is a different type of striker. Bats can fill the position better as Lukaku sub. But in the end it would be criminal to leave out Openda after the season he’s had, even if he doesn’t fit well in our system and has yet to prove himself for Belgium. Bats also had a great season, but at Fener, and he wasn’t the starter even though he scored every 77 mins, 24 goals in 1865 minutes.
Aster Vranckx on the other hand has no business being called up over some others, Vanaken or De Sart from the Belgian league have had amazing seasons, Vanaken is another offensive type of midfielder, De Sart a more defensive one, but a regista type of player. Those 2 are probably the best belgian midfielders in the competition and both would have deserved a call up imo.
Also think De Cuyper should start as LB, he’s getting a transfer to a top 4 league for sure this summer, and it would allow Theate to move to the LCB position, where he’s at his best and probably the best CB we have.
Batshuay is garbage he was so bad in the 2022 worldcup
@@user-vr8fs8gg6h who wasn't?
Couldn't agree more concerning batshuayi and vranckx, but I don't think vanaken and de sart add some value to the squad
And I'm sorry, theate the best defender weve got!?!?
@@JVer__1128 He's only played for us on the LB, he's great at Rennes. Though with Witsel back, he's probably our best now
To be complete: the three games afther the loss against Morocco and before the draw against austria were:
Belgium - Croatia 0-0 (World cup group stage)
Sweden - Belgium 0-3 (Euro Qualification game)
Germany - Belgium 2-3 (Friendly)
My expectation is Quarters, we should win the group and make it past R16, if we don’t win the group we’ll get a tough opponent in R16 and probably drop there, another group stage exit would be disastrous.
Belgium will probably not make it out of the quarterfinals. Our team isn't together for long enough and like you said our defense isn't what it used to be. I'd be glad if they prove me wrong but it would be overachieving.
We have a crazy attack
idk how strong our defense is but we got a strong offense at the moment
i guess he agrees
Our defence is crap, good midfield and insane attack. But without Courtois and with a lack of good new young players, I would be happy if we make it to the 1/4 final...
As a Belgian, ofcourse I want my team to do well but I have to stay realistic and say that quarterfinals is the highest we can get this Euro's. I think we'll win the group but then get knocked out in the round of 16.
So if you somehow manage to win round of 16, do you really think there's a probability of 0% of winning quarter final? Maybe you should place all your money on the opponent to win quarter final then, easy profit no?
you got some knowlegde, you have a new sub
Big up!
as a belgian, i feel like we always get unlucky with matchups or maybe i'm on copium, but like every wc or ek we have to vs france so early when belgium, france should be a finals imo.
Kevin de bruyne is the captain
I'll give u how I think we should lineup
GK: Sels
RB: Castagne
CBs: Witsel and Vertonghen (Witsel cuz of the experience at least he gets a place in the team and helps us cuz I ain't trusting Faes)
LB:Theate
CDM:Onana
CMs: De Bruyne and Carrasco (u forgot about Carrasco he's really good still and should start Ik that would leave Tielemans out but Carrasco left out is disrespectful he will perform well)
LW:Doku
RW:Trossard (as u said he can play there and would not put Doku RW and Trossard LW cuz Doku on the left can beat any defender)
ST: Lukaku
Quarter finals is the expectations for us imo cuz before the quarters it would be bad (unless in the R16 we face Italy or Croatia but we should still win) and past the quarters it means we beat France and move on we would overachieve for sure
Faes starting is project disaster
Theate and Faes are Jupiler Pro League quality bro 💀💀💀
@@RespecTheLevYTthat's all we got💀 Theate can work out well fr he hasn't been bad but I ain't trusting Faes at all especially that we have Witsel who can play CB
@@MichaelTalksFootball1exactly why I ain't starting him
Honestly, Belgium could end up anywhere and I'd be happy with a round of 8 placement.
I'd say the selection is well-balanced enough and acceptable.
-No Courtois is based, his ego is not needed and we got more than decent back-ups
-Maxim De Cuyper should've been called sooner to set up better for 3CBs and deadly crosses with him and Meunier.
-Witsel should still be a no brainer for his calming ability and solidity even as CDM. So glad he's back!
-No Batshuayi is maybe his biggest mistake imo. He's a striker that got finition and opportunities when confident and would've been clutch without a doubt (Now pretty sure it's the end for Batshuayi with that decision). I'd even take him over Openda as I don't see him integrating in Tedesco's system after his short but very poor showing with the national team lately.
Ideal 11:
GK: Sels (for concentration & lot of work)
CB: Castagne-Vertonghen-Theate (for mobility)
RM: Meunier CDM: Witsel-Onana LM: De Cuyper (for crosses & defense reinforcement)
COM: De Bruyne-Trossard (for in-betweens play)
STR: Lukaku (for crosses reception & physicality)
Bringing Bakayoko or / Doku later to crucify with speed
Lol, Pls no not Witsel as the CDM. He does not pass the ball forward... The only time he played any ball forward is when he came back from China before his injury... So roughly for 3 months he knew how to kick the ball forward...
Great knowledge
If Belgium doesn't exist in the future as a country (which could happen because of political issues inside the country) You can mix Belgium attack and Netherland defense. That would be a really good team
There are some small mistakes in your video. We played Germany and England under Tedesco, not small opponents, Casteels will be our number one goalkeeper most surely, Witsel is coming as a defender (official), Vertonghen is unsure with injury, Kevin De Bruyne has been playing since January and has been crazy good since, we have great attackers, but he's perhaps the best player in the world.
Courtois has trouble with the whole team. He wouldnt share the captain position and so he told everybody he was injured when he wasnt. 6months later he apolegized on national tv
Lukaku so underrated according to foreigners
On Met La Patate 😈
In the last tournaments THEIR DEFENCE HAS BEEN SO SLOW
Quarter finals should be doable for Belgium after that it's anybody's guess lol
I think that because of the weaker defence Belgium has finally adapted to a more realistic defending and counter-attacking style rather than possession, high position and technical creative attacking under Martinez. Their attack is very scary on the counter, insane amounts of speed and perfect midfielders to play the perfect through passes. There's a reason France does so well every tournament and it is because they play a similar tournament style. Quarter-finals is very realistic, after that it'll depend massively on the fitness of the squad, any injuries to players like KDB will end their tournament very quickly.
Come on Belgium !!!
Thank You for the insights you share. It's clear to me that you study Football and work hard at knowing what you are talking about. I am a new subscriber. Keep up the great work you are doing.
Big up
I was shocked when Tedesco was fired at RB Leipzig. He has the potential to go toe to toe with the greats one day.
He did 🙂
I think Belgium is ok and I don’t think they are worthy of the third place I do think they are a bit underrated. Literally I always see hate and that’s not deserved. I hope they show there new talents. (I’m Belgian BTW)
Saying I'm not gonna disrespect Jan Vertonghen... just before disrespecting him by saying his legs are old. No comments on the positives he will bring to the team?
We will be happy with quater final. Our defence really Socks, but Jan Vertonghen is still better than those other defenders
all the way to the final
Few other opinions, especially if we don't take into consideration the form of Trossard/Tielemans:
Bakayoko will get at least some starting from the right wing, maybe even lukebakio that the coach loves. I don't see Trossard starting there :) (hope this comment will age well).
Tielemans is not 100% nailed anymore and Trossard could also play more central, with KDB a bit behind. Tedesco also loves the combination Onana - Mangala, if he finds his form before the Euro it could be the pair with KDB higher up the pitch and Trossard on the bench.
Witsel come back can force a change of system to a back 3 (in that case, Castagne has done good game there too).
If Theate is fit he will be the left back (4 at the back), not De Cuyper as written in some comments.
Yes but we all want De Cuyper there... Theate is not a left back and personaly I think it's even insane that only now De Cuyper gets his chance since he's the only real LB for Belgium for a while now. He has more than enough potential with his 15 assists and 5 goals this season as a left back
@@archy7547 completely agree on De Cuyper timing... But then has to play and convince in the friendlies... I love the player, don't get me wrong. But I don't see him start the competition. Also because Castagne Can play there if he decides to put Meunier on the right. Talking here about prediction, not my own wishes ;)
This team is going to go further than the last, in terms of talent theres an awful lot. In all departments. The only place where it could go wrong is by making the wrong transfer moves like CDK to AC Milan that could have derailed his whole career, Vermeeren to Atletico seems to be derailing his at the moment. Raskin to Rangers derailed his after injury. In terms of raw talent this new gen is very close to the golden generation.
Belgium is Manchester United of International Football
They are both named the red devils actually
Then the next Euros is the FA Cup my friend🤠
more like tottenham
Belgium might have a weaker defence ... true ... But you still win games by scoring more then you concede :D
Personally I think we can win or loose against every team.
BELGIUM IS WINNING!!!🖤💛❤
Our defense is terrible ... The thing is , the golden generation wasn't that golden after all , a lot of players didn't really lived up to the hype ... Origi , Januzaj , Batshuay , Bakkali , Praet , etc etc and we had a horrible coach for years
Belgium's team with any decent tactical coach would of won the 2018 WC (and probably the 2020 EURO)
i think sambi lokonga deserved a spot (instead of vranckx maybe because he didn't play so much)
They forgot Michy Batshuayi
Witsel is starting as center back. Im Belgian and if he doesnt we are fckd
Witsel will play defense , not midfield. Has played defense all season with Atletico.
Bro Belgium beat Germany few months ago 3-2 (a big team)
My favorite Kevin de bruyne❤
btw I wanted to join your discord but somehow the link is faulty. Is it just me?
discord.gg/2h6Rau96
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 thx
🙌🏿🔥
Bro. Where are you from? Are you from LA? The clipper hate makes me think so. lol.
Im from Finland, but the clippers will forever be the biggest frauds in all of sports until they do something lol
@@MichaelTalksFootball1 that’s awesome. Finland. Btw. You have great ball knowledge. It’s hard to tell where you are from because you know so much about football. I’m from Southern California. Grew up in Los Angeles. Played soccer since I was 7. Dad played for Atlas in Mexico when he was young. Keep up the great work!
@@MichaelTalksFootball1😂
Courtois cannot play or he will destroy the team. Good riddance.
About that idiotic marketing term of golden generation, its just that, idiotic.
I feel Belgium is much stronger than before.
As you said, many people with a winning attitude and an interesting coach.
(good riddance Martinez too )
Go Belgium!