Nice: An analysis this week by bookmakers ‘Profit Accumulator’ established that Belgium have the most valuable squad at Euro 2016, which is unlikely to have surprised many given the embarrassment of riches at coach Marc Wilmots’ disposal.
From Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne to Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku, the talent pool is deep and diverse. Pounds, of course, do necessarily translate into prizes, though, and one of the keenest debates at this tournament centres on whether a golden generation of Belgian players will finally deliver or again fall short, submerged in a sea of unfulfilled promise.
Sounds familiar? For England fans, the term ‘golden generation’ inevitably stirs memories of three successive quarter-final defeats between 2002 and 2006 and a failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
With seven of the Belgium side who are likely to start against Italy in a tricky opening test in Lyon on Monday plying their trade in the relentless intensity of the Premier League, concern about their stars being afflicted by the burnout often cited as a factor behind England’s successive shortcomings lingers for some Belgians.
There is not quite the hype that accompanied the build-up to the World Cup finals in Brazil two summers ago, perhaps mindful of how Belgium stumbled unconvincingly to the quarter-finals before losing to Argentina, and few forget that this team failed to qualify for the last European Championship in 2012, which began only weeks after Wilmots took charge.
But another quarter-final elimination would not sit comfortably with a country who, until Argentina knocked them off the top of the Fifa rankings in April, had occupied first position for five months. Yet, in reality, that lofty status always felt misleading.
A quick survey of Wilmots’ 44 games in charge reveals precious few victories against leading opposition. A 3-1 win against Italy in a friendly last November is one of only a handful of obvious highlights. Opinion on Wilmots is certainly split.
He has, quite rightly, received plaudits for uniting a squad that had been divided by unchecked egos and infighting between some of the French and Flemish speaking players. But criticism has focused largely on the tactical shortcomings that regular observers of Les Diables Rouges fear has stifled creativity.
After abandoning a short-lived political career as a reformist senator, his experience of club management extended to an interim role at Schalke and an eight month stint in charge of Sint-Truidense before he landed the national job. His detractors bemoan an overly defensive approach and tactical rigidity that prevents Belgium from moving the ball quickly enough and, in turn, fails to maximise the expressive brilliance of Hazard and De Bruyne.
Wilmots showed some signs of bending when he moved De Bruyne from the right to a No 10 role in October, leaving Hazard with a free role on the left, and he hopes the Manchester City playmaker’s two-month lay-off through injury in the second half of the season will help combat fatigue.
There is also a well-worn joke in Belgium about Hazard’s “10 months off for Chelsea”, when the form that earned him England’s Player of the Year award in 2015 disappeared. With Everton’s Lukaku expected to lead the line ahead of the Liverpool pair of Christian Benteke and Divock Origi, Belgium should score goals.
But it says much about Wilmots’ set-up that Manchester United’s Marmite midfielder Marouane Fellaini is still the leading scorer among this group and there has been much head scratching in Belgium as to why the manager has been so averse to using the Tottenham pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen in central defence in the absence of the perennially injured Vincent Kompany.
Whatever Belgium’s make-up, though, opportunity knocks. The question is whether Wilmots’ men will go the way of England, or make good on their considerable talents.
