Euro 2021 Preview - Belgium
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Tell you what… Soccer moves fast.
I’m hardly getting over the Champions League final, and we already need to start talking about the Euros and Copa America.
I thought the best way to go about it before the tournaments start will be to pick apart some of the main sides in each tournament, and then go from there.
I thought I’d start with Belgium - for no reason other than I was watching Jeremy Doku highlights on Wyscout recently (as one does).
Full Squad
Here is the provisional squad as per UEFA.com
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Goalkeepers:
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge)
Mats Selz (Strasbourg)
Defenders:
Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham)
Dedryck Boyata (Hertha Berlin)
Jason Denayer (Lyon)
Thomas Vermaelen (Vissel Kobe)
Jan Vertonghen (Benfica)
Midfielders:
Timothy Castagne (Leicester)
Nacer Chadli (İstanbul Başakşehir)
Yannick Carrasco (Atlético Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Leander Dendoncker (Wolves)
Thorgan Hazard (Dortmund)
Thomas Meunier (Dortmund)
Dennis Praet (Leicester)
Youri Tielemans (Leicester)
Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)
Axel Witsel (Dortmund)
Forwards:
Michy Batshuayi (Crystal Palace)
Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace)
Jérémy Doku (Rennes)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan)
Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Leandro Trossard (Brighton)
Key Reserves:
Belgium listed a bunch of reserves. Here’s a few of my favorites.
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) - Remember that guy!
Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan)
Yari Verschaeren (Anderlecht)
Charles De Ketelaere (Club Brugge)
Belgium Preview
Looking at their squad, it’s hard to not be impressed with Belgium’s attacking options - and equally as shaky about their aging defensive options.
Belgium qualified easily for the tournament, winning all ten qualifying games and only conceding three times - that’s the equal best defensive record. They also had the best attacking record in qualifying with 40 goals. However, they didn’t exactly face a group of death.
Since qualification, Belgium have been in good form too, only lost once rime in nine competitive fixtures (to England in the Nations League).
In those nine games, they have kept three clean sheets, and scored 28 goals. Which is pretty impressive.
However, if you look closer at their results - in the last seven matches against teams that will be in the Euros this season, they’ve have only kept one clean sheet.
Suddenly, not as impressive defensively.
Don’t get me wrong though, their attack is fucking lethal. They have scored in 27 straight games since 2018 - 16 of those games were against qualified teams. In those 16 games, they scored 40 goals.
Jeez!
Belgium are a side that have their ‘golden generation’ and are trying desperately to get a trophy out of them before it’s too late.
Personally, I don’t think this tournament will be the one where they do it - they couldn’t get it done when all the players (especially defenders) were at their best, so I don’t see how they’ll get it done now they’re all a little bit older, and in some examples *cough* Hazard *cough*, a lot more injured.
And on top of that, they don’t have the younger guys - Don’t get me wrong, there’s some absolute fucking quality coming through - but they’re probably not at the level they need to be at to make a major impact in the Euros this year.
Maybe when the World Cup comes around it’ll be something different.
But that’s a bit of a catch-22. When that happens, their backline will be even older. I’d be looking to get some younger options in before then.
For this tournament though….Having said all that, Belgium are still one of the top teams in the competition and their attacking options should put them comfortably into the last 16. From there, you need a bit of luck to go your way and anything can happen.
Lucky they have one of the best strikers in the world, and one of the best creative midfielders to bring that luck.
Belgium’s Group and Fixtures
June 12: vs Russia
June 17: vs Denmark
June 21: vs Finland
As you can see, they have a pretty decent group. There’s no “easy” games in a tournament like this - however, Belgium have smashed Russia and Denmark recently and should top the group with ease.
Key Players
For me, it’s simple. Romelu Lukaku is in some of the best form of his career, and will want to carry that through to the Euros.
In my opinion, the most important thing to have in an International tournament is a goal scorer who can consistently put the ball into the back of the net - we’re talking about really small sample sizes at a tournament like the Euros, so someone who can turn 3xG into six or seven goals in a tournament can make all the difference.
And with Belgium’s good group draw, he’ll have every chance to hit the ground running.
If you’re looking for a younger player that can step up, there might not be too many automatic starters, but Jérémy Doku from Rennes is one to watch out for. I really like his game, and he should hopefully get a run off the bench, and ideally a start vs Finland if Belgium have already qualified.
Final Thoughts
I love Belgium’s attacking options in this tournament - if their main men are fit and firing at the same time then there’s really nothing that can stop them scoring.
However, their defensive record against the top teams has me a little worried about how they’ll go in the latter stages of the tournament.
Personally, I’d love to see them go as far as possible because the games will be great and I love the players on their team. However, I’m backing a round of 16 or quarter final exit.
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