Belgium are not quite in crisis. They are a side who have had to deal with serious disappointment in their past two tournaments. And a country that went without a government for nearly two years. They are experienced in instability. But still, being on the wrong end of the sole shock result of the tournament so far is not an ideal place to be.
Slovakia struck early in Frankfurt with a canny piece of opportunism and held on for the rest of the game as Belgium dominated, created chances, but failed to take them (and when they did, saw them ruled out twice by VAR). Slovakia’s subsequent defeat by Ukraine on Friday means that, should Belgium beat Romania in Cologne on Saturday, Group E will be all square. Now all Belgium must do is work out how to find a solution to their immediate woes, even if a number of longer-term concerns remain.
“I did not expect that, we deserved to win,” was Jan Vertonghen’s take on the Slovakia game. The former Tottenham defender, at 37, finds himself in a role where his leadership is valued by the coach, Domenico Tedesco, on and off the field. He has seen a lot before and remains confident about his team’s prospects. “We can conclude that we didn’t take our chances, did not give much away, and that we still have two matches to go. Romania are not to be underestimated but I thought we had a good plan against Slovakia and I’m confident on Saturday that will also be the case.”
The Red Devils malfunctioned in a number of ways against Slovakia, collectively and individually. In terms of selection, they suffer from a similar issue to England, a lack of left-backs and genuine attacking width on that flank. Tedesco’s solution was to play the winger Yannick Carrasco at left-back, a gamble that may not have worked but did not wholly fail either.
More problematic was an ability to connect the play in midfield. Orel Mangala and Amadou Onana, Belgium’s double 6s, were asked to sit deep in front of the defence in the hope of dragging out the midfield. That, the theory went, would create all the room Kevin De Bruyne would need to create his unique brand of mischief. Instead, Mangala and Onana were smothered on the ball by a voracious Slovakia midfield trio. This approach will probably need a tactical tweak before facing Nicolae Stanciu and co.
That said, any structural issues would have been irrelevant had Romelu Lukaku taken his chances. The Belgian No 9, who confusingly is wearing the No 10 shirt in this tournament, missed three big chances and was the individual penalised by both VAR overturns. His performance, overall, was lively and some of his buildup play impressive, but his shooting boots must have been not mislaid but kidnapped, with the question of their whereabouts playing on his mind.
Such variance within a game is typical of Lukaku, who has also experienced huge ups and downs. Among the ups is the headline fact that he is Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer and Vertonghen had a clever way of spinning a positive on his friend’s inconsistency. “Romelu is someone who has experienced a lot in his career, fantastic moments and also disappointments,” he said. “That is being a striker; you score the goals you’re the hero, you miss the chances and everyone is on at you. Romelu loves those moments where the focus is on him and the pressure is on him, and it will be on him on Saturday. I’m sure he will find the way to the goal.”
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Belgium went 14 matches unbeaten under Tedesco before this tournament and the manager and his de facto assistant within the squad remain confident that good form will be rediscovered. But it is notable that Vertonghen feels Belgium share another trait with the England camp, namely the problems that come from dealing with the pressure of expectations. With much of the “golden generation” now retired, a new era of players are having to deal with the hopes of a nation for the first time.
“For a lot of guys this is their first tournament and you always want to win the first game to take the pressure away a bit,” Vertonghen said. “I understand what the boys need and that they don’t need too much pressure.” And yet, under pressure is where Belgium find themselves right now.