Guest expat in the pool Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Belgium have more chance of winning a World Cup than France, Italy, Argentina or Holland? Might be completley slated for this, but I'd rate their current squad as better than Holland's and Italy's. With Argentina's defensive fragilties, they're maybe on par with them. France seem to always implode on big occasions. belgium has some classy young players and a couple of established internationals but i could still see italy out-italying them 1-0 in the quarters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSkÃrare Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 People said they were an outsider for the last 2 tournaments and they failed to qualify for both. Their "golden generation" were all 12 year olds by then. They're doing well now, gelling as a team and their players are proving their potential at far higher levels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 People said they were an outsider for the last 2 tournaments and they failed to qualify for both. Their "golden generation" were all 12 year olds by then. They're doing well now, gelling as a team and their players are proving their potential at far higher levels. They have to get over the hurdle of actually qualifying for a major tournament before you even begin to rate them higher than Italy, Holland, France or Argentina. Insane levels of football hipsterness the Belgium bumming. They're not even as good as England. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Italy are streets ahead of Belgium, same goes for Argentina and France. The only one that might be acceptable is Holland. Belgium are getting a bit overrated tbh.... They have no fullbacks to speak of and quite frankly at international level their strikers are not up to snuff so far. They have a lot of ability at CB and CM/AM but have struggled to nail down a preferred partnership in any of those partnerships. On paper it seems promising but unfortunately for Belgium football is played on grass not paper. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 People said they were an outsider for the last 2 tournaments and they failed to qualify for both. Their "golden generation" were all 12 year olds by then. They're doing well now, gelling as a team and their players are proving their potential at far higher levels. They have to get over the hurdle of actually qualifying for a major tournament before you even begin to rate them higher than Italy, Holland, France or Argentina. Insane levels of football hipsterness the Belgium bumming. They're not even as good as England. Behave. World Cup QF we'd lose on penalties. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSkÃrare Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 People said they were an outsider for the last 2 tournaments and they failed to qualify for both. Their "golden generation" were all 12 year olds by then. They're doing well now, gelling as a team and their players are proving their potential at far higher levels. They have to get over the hurdle of actually qualifying for a major tournament before you even begin to rate them higher than Italy, Holland, France or Argentina. Insane levels of football hipsterness the Belgium bumming. They're not even as good as England. Behave. World Cup QF we'd lose on penalties. As I said, I'd rate their current squad above those. I'd certainly rate it above England's as well, especially with the recent inclusions of Sterling, Shelvey etc. in mind. I agree there has been an unproportional level of expectation, but I think they're edging close to fullfilling that prophecy. Agree full backs are a problem but Vertonghen hasn't let anyone down at Spurs playing at left-back. Their strikers are only starting to prove themselves at the higher levels, Lukaku being very impressive at WBA and Benteke looking the business in a very poor Aston Villa side. Don't think that'll be a problem position come 2014. Hazard and Mirallas/Mertens/De Bruyne are decent wingers to complement one of those. Fellaini, Dembele and Witsel is a midfield three superior to most in Europe with Steven Defour capable of filling in. Kompany is probably in among the top three central defenders of this world while Vermaelen is growing into his role at Arsenal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Italy are streets ahead of Belgium, same goes for Argentina and France. The only one that might be acceptable is Holland. Belgium are getting a bit overrated tbh.... They have no fullbacks to speak of and quite frankly at international level their strikers are not up to snuff so far. They have a lot of ability at CB and CM/AM but have struggled to nail down a preferred partnership in any of those partnerships. On paper it seems promising but unfortunately for Belgium football is played on grass not paper. Belgium ahead of Holland In all seriousness, that sounds like the mackems saying how good their squad is on paper. Football isn't played on paper. Belgium have some cracking players, but as a nation they just don't have a winning mentality. I think their Flemish vs Wallons attitude has a lot to do with that. They have a lot to prove on the pitch first before I consider them to be ahead of us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Again though you're basing the entire opinion based around how they look on paper. Also Benteke and Lukaku performing in PL means nothing plenty of PL proven players have flopped at international level. As for Vermealen while he's easy on the eye and a very good goal record for a defender he has terrible sense of position and quite frankly lacks brain. Honestly a lot of Arsenal's poor defending is down to his rash decision making. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRD Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Belgium ahead of Holland http://www.vi.nl/upload/045c0b59-e272-43e5-a5d0-2cb39cc5df3a_ned_ita.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlouismag Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 What do the mackems have? 2 more points in the table. Edit: Congrats to Davide. Hope he doesn't get hurt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSkÃrare Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Italy are streets ahead of Belgium, same goes for Argentina and France. The only one that might be acceptable is Holland. Belgium are getting a bit overrated tbh.... They have no fullbacks to speak of and quite frankly at international level their strikers are not up to snuff so far. They have a lot of ability at CB and CM/AM but have struggled to nail down a preferred partnership in any of those partnerships. On paper it seems promising but unfortunately for Belgium football is played on grass not paper. Belgium ahead of Holland In all seriousness, that sounds like the mackems saying how good their squad is on paper. Football isn't played on paper. Belgium have some cracking players, but as a nation they just don't have a winning mentality. I think their Flemish vs Wallons attitude has a lot to do with that. They have a lot to prove on the pitch first before I consider them to be ahead of us. You lot have managed to overcome your racist issues quite well, don't think disregarding them because of their impending civil war is reason enough to doubt their ability. As for their squad on paper in relation to reality - aye, valid argument to some extent. I've seen Sweden qualify for so many tournaments with very average players and actually do well in those tournaments because of the collective effort and good organisation our football federation have put in place. However, I've seen bits and pieces of Belgiums qualifying campaign so far and they do look impressive, especially beating Serbia 3-0 away from home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEEJ Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 So erm... Davide Santon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hydeous Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 yes, Santon. Playing for Italy!Belgium will have them for breakfast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSkÃrare Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 yes, Santon. Playing for Italy!Belgium will have them for breakfast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Again though you're basing the entire opinion based around how they look on paper. Also Benteke and Lukaku performing in PL means nothing plenty of PL proven players have flopped at international level. As for Vermealen while he's easy on the eye and a very good goal record for a defender he has terrible sense of position and quite frankly lacks brain. Honestly a lot of Arsenal's poor defending is down to his rash decision making. Huh? I'm not, you are. Out here in the real world they haven't qualified for a World Cup since 2002 and for the Euros since 1984 (excluding 2000 where they were qualified by default by virtue of organising the tournament). Granted, their current crop looks talented, but I will have to see them reach a World Cup final before I conceed they've passed us in the football stakes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSkÃrare Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Again though you're basing the entire opinion based around how they look on paper. Also Benteke and Lukaku performing in PL means nothing plenty of PL proven players have flopped at international level. As for Vermealen while he's easy on the eye and a very good goal record for a defender he has terrible sense of position and quite frankly lacks brain. Honestly a lot of Arsenal's poor defending is down to his rash decision making. Huh? I'm not, you are. Out here in the real world they haven't qualified for a World Cup since 2002 and for the Euros since 1984 (excluding 2000 where they were qualified by default by virtue of organising the tournament). Granted, their current crop looks talented, but I will have to see them reach a World Cup final before I conceed they've passed us in the football stakes. He's aiming at me, not you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Belgium's not even a real country. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Again though you're basing the entire opinion based around how they look on paper. Also Benteke and Lukaku performing in PL means nothing plenty of PL proven players have flopped at international level. As for Vermealen while he's easy on the eye and a very good goal record for a defender he has terrible sense of position and quite frankly lacks brain. Honestly a lot of Arsenal's poor defending is down to his rash decision making. Huh? I'm not, you are. Out here in the real world they haven't qualified for a World Cup since 2002 and for the Euros since 1984 (excluding 2000 where they were qualified by default by virtue of organising the tournament). Granted, their current crop looks talented, but I will have to see them reach a World Cup final before I conceed they've passed us in the football stakes. He's aiming at me, not you. my fault tbh i should have quoted you instead of just writing it out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 How'd he play tonight? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LooneyToonArmy Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 How'd he play tonight? Didn't see the game but from got this another forum Santon was pretty good. I'd like to see a few more performances of his on LB. He could possibly make a claim budding out Balzeretti. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATB Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Italy was really crap and Santon didn´t get a single ball from his team mates while he as usually was a bit shaky in the defense. So it was ok, hard to judge him to much and hopefully he gets more chances. But I think he will be happy to come home Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BrightonMag Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It'd be great if he could develop his ability to cross with his left foot. At the moment, defenders can shepherd him down the outside without too much worry about the consequences. He has said that with the arrival of Debuchy he will dedicate time to improving his crossing with his left foot as he knows now he will be on the left side for the foreseeable future. He did ping across one very good ball into the box with his left in the second half against Chelsea. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Yeah, he also let the ball go out for a throw to them in our half because he tried to keep it in with the outside of his right rather than simply pass it down the line with his left. These things happen every game. I guess they're only really important when we concede. Still a great player going forward mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxfree Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Knacker on Total Sport wanting to switch around Santon and Gutierrez because of how poor Santon is defensively Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
localshop Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Knacker on Total Sport wanting to switch around Santon and Gutierrez because of how poor Santon is defensively He sounded like a right depressing bastard who would rather have a PROPPA DEFENDA than someone who can actually dribble, shoot and contribute to the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Belgium's not even a real country. Be nice man. Belgium is a fantastic country. Obviously the taxes haven't been that low for more than a decade but still Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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