Will the golden generation of Belgian football reach their predestination?
Everyone agreed at one point, this is the best squad in the Belgian football. That’s for sure. It’s not just a natural mistake that The Red Devils is at third place at FIFA rank.
There is remarkable quality in every segment, starting with Thibaut Courtois in goal. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld are among the best defenders in the Premier League. Mousa Dembele is supreme in central midfield.
Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best playmakers in the world, the brightest star at all-conquering Manchester City. Hazard and Dries Mertens are outstanding wingers, with the latter starring as a centre-forward at Napoli in the last two seasons. Lukaku is one of the most powerful and prolific strikers in the Premier League. Martinez can pick a truly magnificent and experienced world-class lineup in every department, meaning they must be considered legitimate contenders to win the whole thing. At least on paper.
The Coach
Appointed in August 2016 with a contract running to the end of 2018. Roberto Martinez replaced Marc Wilmots after the disappointing performance against Wales at EURO 2016. The Red Devils knocked out at quarter-finals. However, Martinez has just signed a two-year contract extension with Belgium, right before the World Cup, which means that the Belgian Association really trust him. He will stay as national coach until Euro 2020.
However, it did not mention former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who has been working as part of Martinezs staff but is reportedly tempted to take a more senior coaching role at a club.
Martinez was something of a surprise choice as the Royal Belgian Football Association had wanted a coach with more international experience and tactical knowledge. Although his continental involvement was limited to an Everton run in the Europa League, so he still hasn’t the biggest experience. On the plus side, he has comprehensive knowledge of the Premier League, which is home to half of the Belgian squad, and led Wigan Athletic to FA Cup success in 2013.
Tactics
Belgium also affected with the three at the back trend, which conquered the perfidious Albion. In this case, this change was a highly reasonable move from Roberto Martinez. There is no decent natural left-back in the squad, which is one of the reasons behind the switch to the 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3 system. In this formation the two wingers or wingbacks probably Meunier and Carrasco have huge role due to the space beside the side-backs, they have to drop back to close down the wings.
So, when it comes to defence they formed a 5-4-1 shape. With two narrow and close defensive line.
At the build-u
