Romelu Lukaku

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

I'm reading an article on BBC about Belgium's chances in the WC and he got hammered by some of the legends (Van Der Elst & Classen) being interviewed. They don't think he's good enough ("poor technique", terrible in tight spaces"). They were also quite critical of the fullback situation and the lack of goals scored.

Going to be tons of pressure on Big Rom and Hazard this summer.

EDIT: Surprised at how poor both Lukaku and Benteke have been internationally record wise.

Lukaku: 5 goals in 24 app

Benteke:6 goals in 17 app

Overly defensive tactics, poor service must be the problem.

Our problem is a lack of creativity in our midfield 3. We usually play a 4-3-3 with a dm and 2 box to box playing in front of him.

Witsel is always the DM and then we've got Fellaini, Dembele, Dufour for the 2 other positions. Like you can see none of them are really that creative.

Our ability to create chances rests solely on Hazard and De Bruyne.

Lack of proper offensive fullbacks is also not helping. We've got 2 CB's playing fullback.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

How are Dembele or Defour not creative?

Even Witsel could just as easily play as a 10.

As I said before, the main problem is we take to long to get the ball upfront. If you play with Lukaku as the deep striker, you should go for quick counters, and not playing lateral balls all the time...

[Weckerz 3,781]

How are Dembele or Defour not creative?

Even Witsel could just as easily play as a 10.

As I said before, the main problem is we take to long to get the ball upfront. If you play with Lukaku as the deep striker, you should go for quick counters, and not playing lateral balls all the time...

Our main problem is the lack of a capable manager. Wilmots + Borkelmans in charge of the most talented Belgian team ever? Such a waste.

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

How are Dembele or Defour not creative?

Even Witsel could just as easily play as a 10.

As I said before, the main problem is we take to long to get the ball upfront. If you play with Lukaku as the deep striker, you should go for quick counters, and not playing lateral balls all the time...

Don't want to start beef but Defour is creative?? He doesn't start for a Porto team that's in dire need of that... I think he's kinda meh

[Namika 922]

Dembele, Defour and Witsel aren't creative.

[mediator 2,026]

According to A.Bola:

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is a top target for Borussia Dortmund who are looking to replace Robert Lewandowski

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

According to A.Bola:

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is a top target for Borussia Dortmund who are looking to replace Robert Lewandowski

Also according to abola:

Benfica might sell Rodrigo for 35M and buy Morata for 7M. Nothing to see here mate.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

How are Dembele or Defour not creative?

Even Witsel could just as easily play as a 10.

As I said before, the main problem is we take to long to get the ball upfront. If you play with Lukaku as the deep striker, you should go for quick counters, and not playing lateral balls all the time...

Well i meant more in the sense of creative passing. Although i wouldn't call them creative, they're technically gifted players but they really don't create a lot of chances.

It basically ties in with what you said . Dembele and Witsel take 2 long on the ball. They prefer playing it sideways or holding on to the ball rather then make a forward pass.

For Witsel it's understandable as he plays as a DM so it makes sense to not take a lot of risks.

We lack a player who can really set the tempo and hit those long range passes that speed up the play. We lack a Gundogan, Alonso type a player. And indeed Wilmots his lack of tactical knowledge doesn't help either.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Our main problem is the lack of a capable manager. Wilmots + Borkelmans in charge of the most talented Belgian team ever? Such a waste.

That's bullshit in my eyes. We had a "capable" manager with Dick Advocaat. He did jack shit. This guy is the first coach in 10 years who actually makes them win.

Ok, the team is better now, but advocaat had the bulk of the current players at his expense, be it a little younger.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Don't want to start beef but Defour is creative?? He doesn't start for a Porto team that's in dire need of that... I think he's kinda meh

He was a playmaker for years at standard. I don't understand why Porto doesn't play him. He's one of the few players that almost never disappoints in the Belgian team. For me he should almost always start...

[zolayes 14,489]

According to A.Bola:

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is a top target for Borussia Dortmund who are looking to replace Robert Lewandowski

We can't stop them dreaming ...

[Weckerz 3,781]

That's bullshit in my eyes. We had a "capable" manager with Dick Advocaat. He did jack shit. This guy is the first coach in 10 years who actually makes them win.

Ok, the team is better now, but advocaat had the bulk of the current players at his expense, be it a little younger.

Advocaat was manager for less than 6 months, not sure where you're going with this. Wilmots made them get along in the dressing room, united the Flemish and Walloons, hats off for that.

What else makes him a good manager? He had one job as manager before at Sint-Truiden (lol) winning 2 out of 22 games. His assistent Borkelmans was manager in a second division club managing to get them relegated before becoming Wilmots right hand man.

He uses 1 formation and the odd 4-4-2 for 10 mins to try Benteke and Lukaku together. He has no plan during a game, he expects Hazard or De Bruyne to come up with something special to scrape a win.

He's extremely lucky to be in this position now that our players are reaching their mid-twenties. His shortcomings as a tactician will hurt us when things go bad in Brazil. He isn't a man with a plan, and unfortunately the person next to him is Vital Borkelmans, not exactly the guy to come up with a masterplan either.

[Moros 86]

Advocaat was manager for less than 6 months, not sure where you're going with this. Wilmots made them get along in the dressing room, united the Flemish and Walloons, hats off for that.

Which is exactly what we needed most. Also Great coach or not. If Belgium goes through the first round, they did well. If they can win the match after that they did very good. But that would already be unlikely any further and they'd have done an amazing job. Face it this tournament is just for them getting to know the feeling and the experience. 4 years later, when the foundations are made, experience is there and the players have grown, then they need a tactician and possibly go far. Now they should just have some fun surviving the first round. And so should we.

[MAF 162]

The problem with Wilmots and Borkelmans is not so much that theyre going to be our coaches in Brazil. most people would argue that theyve earned that. what bothers me is that it looks like they'll get new contracts before they the tournament starts and we'll be stuck with them for the next campaign aswell.

EDIT: this discussion should probably be moved to the NT thread though.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

What makes him a good coach is that 1. He has won every important match since he was appointed and 2. His players would walk through a fire for him and would pay his new wages out of their own salary if they needed to...

Getting someone else now would be mistake of catastrophic proportions...

[Stingray 9,441]

What makes him a good coach is that 1. He has won every important match since he was appointed and 2. His players would walk through a fire for him and would pay his new wages out of their own salary if they needed to...

Getting someone else now would be mistake of catastrophic proportions...

True that ... but i don't see him as a tactical wonder nonetheless

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

He uses 1 formation and the odd 4-4-2 for 10 mins to try Benteke and Lukaku together. He has no plan during a game, he expects Hazard or De Bruyne to come up with something special to scrape a win.

How do you explain the fact that most of his tactical team changes or subs actually had a big impact on the game? Putting De Bruyne in the starting eleven (his idea, was certainly not the most popular option at the time), putting Defour in the team for the match in Serbia (if I'm correct), making Witsel play as a number six, et cetera.

The man is not stupid. Until now, we can't really blame him for any errors, because there simply weren't any. The fact it's not really a fast playing team is more because of the players we have than because of staff...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

If Dortmund want him, they can have him in exchange for Gundogan or Reus. Ta very much.