The Red Devils once again bit their teeth on Wales on Saturday evening. Peter Vandenbempt was there in Cardiff and shines his light on the match in the Nations League. Our football commentator was, among other things, surprised about the sneer of national coach Roberto Martinez after the game.
Peter Vandenbempt in a nutshell:
- “The Belgian defense did not have it easy.”
- “Roberto Martinez’s swipe was incomprehensible.”
- “Martinez would better look into why Belgium can no longer win matches.”
- “It’s no shame that you depend on Kevin De Bruyne as a team.”
- “Nations League is more interesting than regular practice matches without bets.”
“Not the best match of the Belgians”
I had a good time with the game, it’s always a pleasure to watch football here in Wales. The crowd was super enthusiastic, still surfing on the euphoria of qualifying for the World Cup.
Certainly the 1st half was very fast, with two teams that had chances and played football to win. That was a lot of fun. In the 2nd half, the Belgians opted for control and it was less. At the end there was a moment of euphoria.
All in all it was a nice match to watch, but certainly not the best of the Belgians.
It was not easy for the Belgian defense. Every time Wales went deep, there were big problems.
There is not much to say about the defense individually. Boyata did quite well and Dendoncker also played a good match. Theate was a bit hit and miss, still a lot of work to do.
But overall, defending as a team, the Belgian defense has not had it easy with Wales. Too many chances were given away.
Every time Wales went deep, with the speed and agility of James and the swift Wilson, there were big problems in the back for the Belgians.
“Incomprehensible swipe from Martinez”
Roberto Martinez’s take after the game was incomprehensible to me. We sat at the press conference looking at it in amazement. He claimed it was a 100 percent invalid goal and the line was skewed.
Martinez demanded explanations from FIFA and UEFA. Actually, he did not want to go into the sporty, all that mattered was that wrongly awarded goal by the Welshmen.
I don’t understand it at all. I’ve consulted a few more specialists and it just has to do with misperception, with optical illusion. He noticed that at the top the difference between the offside line and the backline was smaller than at the bottom.
We also had the impression that it was offside for a while, but just before that those lines are drawn very precisely. But someone explained to me that this phenomenon is called parallax, because of course it is an optical illusion. A field has curve deflections and a line is calibrated to it, so this was just a 100 percent correct decision.
Incidentally, Roberto Martinez, as Technical Director of the football association, also heads the Referee Department, but apparently he does not know how such a line is drawn.
“Mask of ever calm gentleman threatens to fall off”
It is not the 1st time that Roberto Martinez surprises us with a swipe at the race management. Yesterday that was now very striking and completely unjustified.
It was also the case after those two defeats in the Final 4 of the Nations League. Even then, he was constantly blaming the refereeing decisions, as if to divert attention from the real problems.
It has happened a few times now that his mask of an ever calm gentleman threatens to fall off when the result is not what he likes.
Even after the defeat against the Netherlands, Martinez was already petulant and sharp and made an unfortunate comment about Louis van Gaal, while he had just lost.
Roberto Martinez would better look into why Belgium can no longer win matches.
Van Gaal, a man of greater reputation than Martinez, had said with a laugh that Noa Lang was more likely to win the Golden Ball than Kevin De Bruyne, as attackers are more likely to win that trophy than midfielders.
Martinez would better look into the reason why Belgium can no longer win matches. Matches that were easily won in the past, they no longer succeed in that.
In their last 13 games, the Red Devils have only been able to keep clear 3 times: against the Czech Republic, against Belarus and against Burkina Faso. They have only won 6 of those 13 matches. So I think the problem lies there rather than with the referees.
Roberto Martinez
Wales goal didn’t come out of the blue
I think the result over the whole game was just correct. I understand Kevin De Bruyne is saying that the Belgians should have won, as after the 0-1 at the start of the 2nd half, the Red Devils were in control of the Welshmen. They didn’t stand a chance anymore.
What the Belgians have done wrong is no longer looking for a second goal, but opting for control. Gradually they collapsed a bit. In the 1st half, Belgium had the better of the game, although it was not nearly as good as against Poland. Wales is also a better team.
Belgium had some chances and could have scored more, but Wales also had a lot of opportunities. In that respect, there was no advantage for the Belgians in the 1st half.
The substitutions also played a part. For Belgium, the Hazard brothers came in badly – Eden Hazard walked around a bit – while the Wales coach’s substitutions gave a new burst of energy.
Suddenly there was much more momentum in the game and the audience was behind it. That goal did not come out of the blue and was almost predictable. There you saw again how difficult Belgium has had in the past year to maintain a result.
The Hazard brothers came in badly. Eden Hazard walked around a bit.
“No shame that you as a team depend on Kevin De Bruyne”
It is not difficult to see that Kevin De Bruyne is the engine of this team, you can see that from a distance. He was less good than against Poland, but it is no shame that Belgium depends on Kevin De Bruyne. That is simply the best midfielder in the world. Any other team would also have problems if De Bruyne is not there.
Because of the substitutions, Belgium lost the peace and overview in its game. They panicked too quickly and the ball was handed in too quickly. And then you came under pressure. That promises for Tuesday’s game against Poland, because De Bruyne will not travel with us. He gets a well-deserved vacation.
The Belgians must be able to count on the very best Courtois, the very best De Bruyne, the very best Eden Hazard, Witsel and Lukaku. They determine which level the national team will reach.
After the replacement of Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium lost its grip on the game.
“Nations League is more interesting than regular practice matches”
I don’t think the Red Devils are very much concerned with the result in this Nations League campaign. They will still try to win, but deep down they think: “It’s about the World Cup”. And if they don’t qualify for that Final 4, they can go on vacation two weeks earlier in June next year.
The association will mind that, because if Belgium is there, the intention is to organize the Final 4 in Belgium.
Because of the Nations League, matches like against Wales are more interesting than if it were a regular practice match, because something still depends on it. If you can play good, fun top matches, that’s better than practicing against Burkina Faso or Estonia.
You can’t really object to the idea of playing games with stakes instead of practice matches.
But it’s too much. It should replace other competitions. While in the past year the Belgians have played friendly matches in addition to the Nations League. This has to do with a number that has been agreed in television contracts. Rather, that is where the problem lies.
That final round that is also added every two years in June, at a time when the football players would otherwise have rest, that too is of course too much. But you can’t really object to the idea of playing games with stakes instead of exhibition games.
I read in the newspaper that even Argentina, Brazil and a few other South American countries would be added. That could make it even more attractive.
