One of the takeaways from Belgium’s 2-0 loss to Italy on Monday was the lack of width in their attacking play.
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“I bluffed”, Wilmots told reporters.”But the players were aware of it”.
“Would that have changed the course of the game?” We waited for the right time.
Ireland struggled to retain possession and were repeatedly hit on the counter-attack and they will have to be considerably better against the Italians if they are to fix the damage. “We have to reappraise this match as quick as possible, then put it to the side, take confidence from the way we played two or three days ago against Sweden, and go and try and win a game I don’t think it will be as hard as it maybe looks from here”. “We win and lose together”.
Belgium face Sweden in their last Group E game in Nice next Wednesday needing a point to qualify for the last 16 behind Italy, who are already certain to top the section.
Against Italy, Wilmots started four of his players out of position.
De Bruyne was Belgium’s driving force right from the start and was involved in almost every unsafe move.
De Bruyne’s set-piece delivery piled the pressure on Ireland and it was from his 13th minute corner that Alderweireld glanced wide.
John O’Shea conceded that the Republic of Ireland contributed to their own downfall against Belgium.
To their credit Ireland persisted in their efforts to break down the Belgian defence, but failed to force a save out of keeper Thibaut Courtois. Galaxy striker Robbie Keane went 12 minutes for the Irish in their defeat. There was talk before the tournament that if you went unbeaten and had three points then it would be enough.
Axel Witsel soon made it 2-0 on the hour mark with a wonderful header from another breakaway move on the right, as the Irish struggled to cope with their pace on the flanks.
Belgium took their foot off the gas for the remaining 20 minutes of the game, while Ireland never really threatened. It was him who was at fault for Belgium’s third goal when he committed far too early to a challenge on Eden Hazard.
After the game, Wilmots rounded on the critics who dismissed his side after their Italy defeat. “It’s manipulating the people, giving them the wrong idea”, he said. Manager O’Neill may need to follow the example of his namesake and Northern Irish counterpart, and consider a more adventuresome reorganisation of his starting lineup.
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“As a team, we had to give a response to everybody who watched the game against Italy”, Hazard said. The team is what matters. That was a bit of a setback, but it woke us up for today’s match.
