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Belgium’s “Golden Generation” remains titleless. The long-time world number one team, including superstar Kevin De Bruyne, left the European Championship in the round of 16 after a 0:1 defeat to France. The 37-year-old veteran Jan Vertonghen was ultimately the unlucky one, deflecting a shot from Randal Kolo Muani into his own goal in the 85th minute. In fact, Belgium failed mainly due to Domenico Tedesco’s tactics.
In the 64th minute, Tedesco wanted to save what could still be saved at that point: he brought on defensive midfielder Orel Mangala for striker Lois Openda and moved Kevin De Bruyne from the six to the ten position. The score was still 0:0 in Düsseldorf, but even after changing his position, the Belgians were unable to get back on track. So in the end it remains unclear whether the German coach had either poorly explained his game idea with four (!) attackers when in possession of the ball to his players. Or whether the team simply couldn’t or didn’t want to accept it.
Perhaps Tedesco still had the reactions from home in mind when he and his team were insulted as a “bunch of cowards” by the newspaper “Het laatse Nieuws” after the unsightly 0:0 draw against Ukraine. Despite their team having reached the knockout rounds, the fans had sent their team off to the dressing room with a shrill chorus of whistles.
Belgium – four strikers, but a gap like an ocean
This time, Tedesco certainly could not be accused of being discouraged. Despite the heavy opponent, he changed his game system to a formation with Romelu Lukaku and Openda in the centre, with Jérémy Doku and Yannick Carrasco attacking on the wings. De Bruyne was supposed to pull the strings in the centre of midfield, but the gap between the attacking quartet and the rest of the Belgians was as wide as an ocean.
De Bruyne noticed this early on, as did some of his teammates. In the 10th minute, for example, the captain broke off an attack attempt and waved frustratedly in the direction of Openda, as if to say: Why don’t you offer yourselves up front, come towards them! Even if he had shouted that, they wouldn’t have heard him up front. They were standing too far away.
Onana and Faes also frustrated with the front men
Ten minutes later, there was a similar scene: Amadou Onana gestured towards Lukaku, but he pretended not to know and spread both arms. Wout Faes, the central defender, also complained several times about the lack of passing options during the build-up.
The figures were therefore already devastating for the “Red Devils” at half-time. Lukaku had seven ball contacts, Openda nine, even goalkeeper Koen Casteels had 23 more than the two of them combined. Lukaku in general: no shots on goal until the 71st minute, he seemed incredibly sluggish, frustrated, as if the three goals disallowed in the group phase were still having an impact.
So in the end it seemed almost logical that he lost the ball before the decisive goal – and that he simply stayed up front instead of pursuing. After 70 minutes, the shots on goal were 2:15 from Belgium’s perspective, and at the final whistle it was 6:20. Almost embarrassing: The “X-Goals”, i.e. the expected goals, of the entire Belgian team were put at 0.22 by the statisticians.
Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku during the match against France
Tedesco explains his idea to Sportschau
The Sportschau later asked Tedesco about his failed system and the lack of connection between the team’s parts. He explained: “My idea was to double up on the wings and always form triangles. Defensively, that worked well, we mostly controlled France from the outside. Offensively, the plan was to exploit their problems with balls behind the defensive line. But we definitely didn’t do that enough, although I felt the space was definitely there.”
After the match, De Bruyne revealed in the interview zone how Tedesco had previously involved his team: “The coach called Lukaku and Vertonghen in two days before the match and discussed the plan with them. Of course I played further back than usual, but we accepted it. Ultimately, we simply didn’t pose enough of a threat going forward.”
Deschamps: “We did not fall into their trap”
What the French said about Tedesco’s tactics afterwards was also very interesting. Right-back Jules Koundé, who was named “Player of the Match,” shook his head a little helplessly: “We were surprised when we read the lineup. But to be honest, I never thought that you could play so defensively with these four players up front. When you have names like Mbappé, Thuram and Griezmann on your list, you know that there will be some attacking moves.”
France coach Didier Deschamps shouts instructions from the sidelines
Didier Deschamps, who ultimately got away with his defensive-looking system with three sweepers in front of a back four, also sounded rather cold when he verbally dismissed Tedesco’s plan an hour after the end of the game: “We knew beforehand that the Belgian team was not the fastest. They wanted to set a trap for us with Carrasco and Doku on the outside – but we simply did not fall into it.”
De Bruyne leaves his future open
What will happen next with this Belgian team and its coach is unclear. Tedesco was completely frustrated after the elimination and did not want to look ahead, but rather “analyze everything calmly”. Vertonghen will probably end his career in the national team, and perhaps Lukaku will too.
And even De Bruyne left his future open. “I’m going on summer break now, recovering from everything – and then I’ll make a decision,” he said. By the end of the evening, he didn’t want to hear anything about the “golden generation” anymore. “What do you want with that?” he snapped at a Belgian journalist. “France, England, Spain and Germany are also competing here. Do you think that none of these are golden generations?”
2024-07-01 20:26:00
#strikers #chances #Belgium #fails #due #Tedescos #tactics
