The purpose of this series is to give insight on players who will play, or could potentially play for the Rode Duivels. I'll start from the back (i.e. goalkeeper to defenders to midfielders to fowards). Since Georges Leekens, the coach, has stated that he prefers to have the team play in a 4-3-3 formation, I'll arrange the profiles accordingly.
In the past, Belgium has never had a goalkeeping problem. Jean-Marie Pfaff and Michel Preud'homme were world greats, dominant for Belgium in almost every tournament they played in. It's been downhill from since; Filip De Wilde had some memorable blunders at Euro 2000 and Geert De Vlieger was solid if somewhat unspectacular during the 2002 World Cup. Right now, the Rode Duivels are in a transition period with regards to the position, as the former number 1, Stijn Stijnen, retired after a spat with the coach back then, Dick Advocaat. So on to the profiles.
The Contenders
Simon Mignolet: The buzz right now in Belgium is around this kid. The soon-to-be 22 year old led his former team Sint Truiden to a dominant year in the Belgian second division. He then helped STVV to a very impressive season in the Jupiler League. This led to interest from teams abroad and this summer he made the move to Sunderland. Originally it was thought he would be the second choice behind Craig Gordon. But Gordon has just broken his arm, and this means Mignolet will likely be thrown into the fires of the Premier League. So where does he stand in terms of the Rode Duivels? Well, in the games I've seen him, he looks to be a very good all-around keeper. He's tall, 6'4 and he has good reflexes. He's frustrated superior teams like Anderlecht with some great saves, and he has good command of the box. But a national team keeper has to be starting at all times, and until he wrestles that number 1 position at Sunderland, he can't be the number 1 with Belgium. But he's young and I wouldn't be surprised if in the coming years, Mignolet becomes our undisputed national team keeper.
Jean-Francois Gillet: Gillet is, at the moment, Belgium's most accomplished keeper. He's captain of a decent Serie A team in Bari. Dino Zoff, the Italian great, has named Gillet the best netminder in all of Serie A, besides Gianluigi Buffon. At 31 year of age, Gillet has shockingly few caps for Belgium (5). That's probably because he was toiling away with Bari in Serie B for the majority of his career, rejecting offers from bigger teams. Whatever the case, he is quite talented, evidenced by his games against Spain (where he stopped a penalty) and Hungary, a game where he made a very nice, low save to keep the clean sheet. He's not very tall, at around 5'11, so that does put him at a disadvantage. But given his ability and experience, he should and likely will be Belgium's starting keeper for the upcoming qualification campaign.
Logan Bailly: Another young keeper, Bailly is 24 years old, but he already has a starting place at Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach. Two years ago, when he transferred there from Genk, Borussia were looking almost certain to be relegated. But Bailly's exceptional form kept them up, and earned him the player of the season award at the club. Recently, things haven't been going as well for him. He's suffered a dip in form at Monchengladbach after a foot injury and his last appearance with the Rode Duivels wasn't exactly a resounding success. After controlling a relatively listless match against Croatia, Belgium gave up a goal from long range, struck by Tottenham's Kranjcar. Bailly should have had it, but it slipped through his hands, giving Croatia the win. While no one doubts his abilities to make impressive, acrobatic saves (look them up on Youtube, some will make your jaw drop), it doesn't appear like he's mentally ready to beat out Gillet for the spot in the Belgian XI.
Silvio Proto: Poor, old Proto (actually, for a keeper with his experience he's quite young at only 27), he was a member of an Anderlecht team that was as sound defensively as it was efficient on the attacking end. After beating out Daniel Zitka for the Anderlecht job, he must have thought it only a matter of time before he would do the same with Belgium, certainly with the retirement of Stijn Stijnen. But, so far he just hasn't gotten the chance to get capped again and it will be even harder if Mignolet gets his hands on the top job at Sunderland. Proto is an excellent keeper in the Belgian league, no one doubts that. But when he gets to play at the European level, he doesn't always impress. He definitely deserves to share some of the blame for Anderlecht's Europa League exit at the hands of HSV Hamburg. For that reason, he probably should not figure too prominently in Leekens' plans.
The Outsiders
Kenny Steppe: Was supposed to be the next big thing when he was at Beerschot, but so far he hasn't been able to impress at Heerenveen. His talent is undeniable though, and could factor into the plans if he gets back on track this season in Holland.
Stijn Stijnen: I hear you ask "didn't he retire from the Rode Duivels?" Well, yes he did, after an innocuous comment made by Dick Advocaat. But now Georges Leekens is the coach and Sebastein Pocognoli (a guy that Stijnen doesn't really get along with) hasn't be called up lately. Stijnen can produce matches where he flat out shuts down the opposition (the Brugge away match against Valencia caused some Spanish newspapers to gawk at his brilliance). But he isn't as dominant as he should be on set pieces and he's never had an outstanding performance with the Duivels (and with a defence as porous as ours, he's had more than his fair share of chances). He may still be an option, but in my mind, Stijnen's time with Belgium has passed and someone else, hopefully less combustible, should replace him.
Sinan Bolat: "Doesn't he play for Turkey?" Well, he hasn't been cap-tied yet, so I guess there's still a chance he could play for the country that he's lived in for the greater part of his life. He is a pretty excellent keeper and the only reason that I haven't put him among the first choices, is that it's looking quite certain that he will get cap-tied by Turkey (though he mentioned that he was available for Belgium, but Rene Vandereyecken, the old national team coach, never called him up). For Standard Liege, Bolat has been clutch in every sense of the word, helping winning them the Belgian league title two years ago with a vital penalty stop and sending Sclessin into ecstasy after his last-minute equalizer against AZ Alkmaar in the Champions League. He's excellent in one-on-one situations and should he ever change his mind, he deserves at least a call-up.
Thomas Kaminski: Another lad from the Flemish football factory of Germinal Beerschot. He's much too young to make an impact now, at 17 years of age. But he's dripping with potential, after some very impressive performances late in the season. May even challenge for the number 1 one spot at Germinal this season.
My pick: Jean-Francois Gillet with Simon Mignolet as backup keeper
Georges Leekens' likely pick: Jean-Francois Gillet with Logan Bailly as backup keeper
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