In
Witzsel, Bongonda, Batshuayi, Janssens, Svilar
Out
Carrasco, Benteke, Castagne, Sels
So I choose my squad without making too many changes to the one that played in the World Cup. Carrasco misses out through injury and I decided to chance my arm with Bathshuayi as my second striker rather than Benteke. The other two changes are bringing two young players who show good potential to succeed in the future. The captain is also changed with Spurs CB Alderweireld taking the armband and Roma’s Nainggolan becoming VC.
Overall, I’m happy with the squad but it does feel thin in areas – especially both full back positions. Some scouting will be in order ahead of the next squad I think.
7.09.18 European League Div. A, Grp 4
So in my first game as Belgium manager, we gain a comfortable win. The team dominated the game from start to finish and the possession stat of 34% shows that Sweden barely got a touch of the ball. To begin with, our chances were limited to Mertens making long-range efforts but we got better as the game went on. Both goals scored were rebounds but that takes nothing away from De Bruyne in particular who smashed his rebound in on the volley from the edge of the box. This seems like a good start!
France – I just can’t beat them! In my three encounters with France in the last 12 months, I’ve lost all of them. But this was, understandably, the closest of the three games. Both sides created few chances in what was a cagey affair for the most part. We were undone by one sublime passing move which ended in Digne’s perfect cross picking out Greizmann in a crowd of players to finish. We opened up and pushed on a bit as the second half wore on but couldn’t really create anything of note. My first defeat in my new job and the end of this international window…