What is it with Belgium?

When you look at the Belgium team it is awesome on paper.
I've highlighted their squad and in particular some of the players I consider to be stand outs.
These boys were beaten to qualification by Turkey of all nations.

GK Jean-François Gillet
21 GK Simon Mignolet
GK Olivier Renard

2 DF Denis Odoi
3 DF Toby Alderweireld
4 DF Jan Vertonghen
14 DF Timmy Simons
DF Thomas Vermaelen
DF Vincent Kompany
DF Daniel Van Buyten
DF Sébastien Pocognoli

6 MF Marouane Fellaini
8 MF Axel Witsel
10 MF Eden Hazard
11 MF Dries Mertens
13 MF Guillaume Gillet
15 MF Steven Defour
16 MF Nacer Chadli
18 MF Radja Nainggolan
MF Moussa Dembélé

7 FW Kevin Mirallas
9 FW Igor de Camargo
17 FW Christian Benteke
19 FW Jelle Vossen
20 FW Romelu Lukaku
FW Benjamin De Ceulaer

 

Maybe they just expected Turkey to roll over and not put up any resistance. A few players there that aren't highlighted that are high on the list as players wanted by some clubs.

 

Like AB said, I'd highlight a few more on that list, Mignolet, Vermaelen, Deffour, Vossen (purely for OT) and Lukaku (young but undeniably talented)

As you said, its very surprising that they didn't qualify, but then again, look at England in 2008

Carson, Richards, Campbell, Lescott, Bridge, Wright-Phillips (Beckham 46), Gerrard, Barry (Defoe 46), Lampard, Joe Cole (Bent 80), Crouch.
Subs Not Used: James, Ashley Cole, Brown, Hargreaves.

(thats the team that lost to Croatia in the playoffs) pleanty of names to pick out there!

 

Nearly mentioned OT myself when I saw Jelle Vossen on the list.

 

Dude Defour and Axel Witsel are bomb too. I think the problem with belgium is it's a devided country and a lot of immigrants. There's no unity in their team. I read somewhere the other day Hazard hasn't ever scored or maybe it was just once for Belgium while socring 15-20 a season in the league.

 

It's a rather young team of players that have yet to mature on the International stage. I reckon that if they qualify for Brazil 2014 they could suprise a few people.

 

Shocked you havnt highlighted Vermaelen, Witsel and Defour!

 

It's probably more to do with that chump that was in charge of the national team, rather than the playing roster underachieving.

Leekens is a joke of a manager by the looks of his CV (even though he has now jumped ship), if they got somebody half decent in they'd probably give most of Europe a good drubbing.

 

And let's not forget Kevin de Bruyne who Chelsea purchased from Genk. Although he's not on the current Belgium roster for the up and coming friendlies he certainly will have a bright future for the national team if he impresses.

 

I watched SoccerAid. Seedorf & Stam were the best players on the pitch by a mile. But when you've got Myers/Ferrell up front, you get beat 3-1.

Football is eleven a side. Highlighting just 7 players as decent (and even then, how good ware Mertens or Dembele?) kind of answers your own question. Given that none of the players you highlighted were people who put the ball in the net only serves to reinforce that message.

On a Belgian note, what kind of player joins a club without a manager? What kind of club spends £78m without a manager? Says all I need to know about Eden Hazard as a person and the problems with Chelsea as a club. Looking forward to Hazard imploding alongside Torres next year. Who'd have thought it would cost a fortune to replace Kalou....

 

They are a relatively young side. They threw in a few bad games in qualification and were a bit loose defensively. I have bet on them and Uruguay for the next world cup as my outside bets. 150/1 and 33/1 repspectively. Obviously Brazil will be tough to beat on their home patch but Argentina are my pick for the tournament. 6/1. Waiting to see if that will drift any.

They are packed with talent and if they choose their next coach well then they could show massive improvement.

 

As above, football is a team game. If Ronaldo, Messi, Villa, Van Persie, Rooney, Benzema, Cisse, Gomez were all from the same country, they still wouldn't win a lick if they had Denis Odoi, Timmy Simmons, Alex Witsel and Jelle Vossen playing with them. The three defenders highlighted are CB's, yet none play in a 3-man system, so really only two will play, or Vermaelen goes out of position. The three in midfield, Mertens, Hazard and Dembele, are all more or less the same kind of player, attacking players, so they're not lining up together. The strikers are all pretty average. Lukaku looked an absolute donkey in the Premier League and being at Chelski isn't making their best striking hope any better.

This thread is daft - Belgium are where they are because the majority of their squad are very average. There was a squad a few years ago that had the best lb in the World, one of the best strikers in the game, some of the best midfielders and defenders anywhere in Europe and they had barely performed since 1996 and hadn't won owt since 1966.....

 

True, a goal scorer is massively important, without that, you'll never achieve anything!

 

It can't help that some of the team is flemish speaking and some is french speaking but their team is a fascinating one for the future.

 

Strikers are certainly their major problem on paper. Much will depend how Lukaku and De Bruyn progress at Chelsea in terms of that. To be honest though they have no problem scoring and bar the games against Germany scored freely. The right coach could make use of the talent they have but they will need a couple players to progress. Defensively they are short in the full back areas. To be honest I think you undervalue them. They certainly have a very talented midfield and few problems in that regard. Defour, Witsel, Feillani, Hazard, Mertens, Dembele is laden with talent. However I think it unlikely they'll plug the required gaps and take a hand any time soon at major tournaments. They have potential though.

Certainly not a daft thread as I think if you put that talent at the disposal of a good quality coach then he would certainly expect ot be qualifying for major tournaments.

 

Err, languages soken in Belgium are french and flemish, not german. They beat Portugal a couple of years ago in the wc qualifier I think, or drew at least a high scoring game. Maybe theri setup is crap, no training headquaters no decent coach/management?

 

I wonder what the odds will be on Belgium winning, say the Euro's on 2016.
Given the young talent available their future is very bright indeed.

 

too much moules + frites + Leffe, otherwise they'd be sorted.

 

Very possible, as a lot of these players will be peaking by then.

 

Because most names these days are ****