0 of 2: A look back at the Turkish and German Qualifiers

Two painful loses have ushered in the Belgian' start to their qualifying campaign. A narrow home defeat against Germany, caused by Daniel Van Buyten's mistake, was the first match. Then, a wild 3-2 defeat in Turkey caused qualification hopes to take a tailspin. Tied 1-1 after Daniel Van Buyten redeemed himself with a header, Vincent Kompany made a silly challenge, giving him his second yellow card of the night. With the Rode Duivels down to 10 men, Turkey took advantage to score another goal (due to Jan Vertonghen's mistimed kick). Van Buyten provided some hope with his second of the night (another header), but then Turkey scored another goal, ten minutes before full-time. So that leaves the Duivels with no points and with second place (Turkey) 6 points ahead they find themselves in a precarious position. Group A's standings paint a bleak picture, but there are somethings to remain positive about.

Firstly, from a defensive standpoint, except for a few moments of idiocy, Belgium looked pretty solid. With four high-quality centre backs in defense (Vermaelen and Alderweireld on the flanks), both Germany and Turkey couldn't really break down Belgium. The back-line was also covered by the gritty midfield, helping matter from an organisational standpoint. So how can Belgium avoid the dumb mistakes? Well to be honest, the fault is likely due to two things. The first is that the back-line had never played together (well at least all four of those players together), so Georges Leekens should pick a back line and allow them to grow together. Secondly, Van Buyten and Kompany (the two players who made the crucial mistakes in each respective match), have never really looked secure playing together. Usually one central defender is rather flamboyant while his partner is sober and no-nonsense. Unfortunately, both Kompany and Van Buyten fall into the first category. Nicholas Lombaerts and (to some extent) Thomas Vermaelen can be placed in the second group. With Kompany suspended for the next match, and Lombaerts likely back from injury, we may get a look at a slightly less imposing Belgian defense, but also one that is less gaffe-prone.

Against Germany (where Belgium played better in my opinion), a 4-3-3 was used, with Dembele on the right flank. This worked well, since whenever Toby Alderweireld was in trouble, he could pass the ball to the available Dembele (who can protect and move forward easily with the ball at his feet). Eden Hazard wasn't as involved as hoped, but he did draw the German defense apart, giving Dembele room to operate. Timmy Simons lost track of Ozil once or twice, but he was mostly solid. Vertonghen and Fellaini were excellent as always. Lukaku always weighed on the German defense, but he's still too inexperienced to capitalize on the mistakes of the opposition (contrast that with the opportunistic Wesley Sonck).

Against Turkey, Leekens opted for a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Guillaume Gillet replacing the slightly unfit Eden Hazard (who was able to make a cameo at the end of the match). Alderweireld had his hands full with the excellent Arda, and he handled him well enough until the mistake which led to the first Turkish goal. Vermaelen wasn't brilliant at left-back, but he was decent enough. Van Buyten was excellent and Kompany was also fine for the most part, except his foolish rash challenges which had him sent off and doomed Belgium. While the midfield trio of Fellaini, Vertonghen and to some extent Simons, were good, Gillet looked a little too flat for the international game. While he tried hard, he didn't give Belgium a good enough attacking presence on the right. It was evident that with four central defenders at the back, a diamond midfield is too compact, leaving gaps on the flanks and room for the opposing wingers and fullbacks to run. The 4-3-3 is better in this respect in that the attacking flank players (Hazard and Dembele) can clog the the sides of the pitch, making it harder for the opposition to attack via the flank. It also puts less pressure on Alderweireld and Vermaelen to run-up from their positions in the defense. Finally, with two wingers and one striker, there is more room for each to work in as the opposing defense is spread out more (which explains why both Lukaku and Dembele had a good game against Germany, but performed poorly in Istanbul).

Finally, I must note that in each game, after a good first half, Belgium came out flat in the second half. This may be due to Loew and Hiddink's halftime speeches or their substitutions (both made one sub at half), but either way, Leekens needs to be proactive and counteract this, possibly subbing out a player performing poorly or just changing the tactics slightly. In any case, Leekens has brought a great sense of unity to this team and also has them playing with heart and organization. If the errors can be cut out and the attacking players start to score, Belgium may be able to go on a roll. Happily, our two hardest games have been played already, so that is also a positive.

Until the next game!