The Red Devils have played their last international match before the announcement of the European Championship selection. An encouraging 2-2 draw against England was recorded on Tuesday. Although that match also exposed some sore points for the Belgians.
As expected, national coach Domenico Tedesco abandoned the experimental starting eleven at Wembley that he had introduced against Ireland on Saturday. This time he opted for the majority of his available strong holders. That intervention also paid off.
The Belgians were much sharper offensively, with some excellent counters. The midfield also had much more control over the match. Youri Tielemans even played his best international match in years with two buffers at his back.
Defensive Achilles heel
On the other hand, the Devils came away well defensively on several occasions. Matz Sels had to distinguish himself several times, the English missed several big opportunities and also saw a goal disallowed with a 1-1 score.
Defensively, the Belgians remain quite vulnerable. “Look, I have always found the defensive work to be the major concern for these Devils. We are not good enough defensively to get far at the European Championships. That was once again confirmed against England,” concludes Peter Vandenbempt at Sporza.
Twosome declines
Jan Vertonghen and Arthur Theate in particular did not exactly have their best evening. “Vertonghen, for example, was completely exposed during that penalty. The English – that is of course also their great quality – could play football through the center too easily. Theate had a very difficult match, I noticed. And Vertonghen also had a hard time at times,” said the commentator/analyst.
Tags: Vandenbempt passionate Red Devils
