Belgium's Euro 2016 team is stacked, they just have no fullbacks
Going into Euro 2016, Belgium are stacked at nearly every position. They've got some of the world's best attacking midfielders and wingers, more class strikers than they know what to do with, and a number of Europe's best centerbacks too. They even have two first-choice English Premier League goalkeepers. They have talent across the board.
Except for fullback.
Let's be honest here: In the grand scheme of things, the fullback position is arguably the easiest position to produce quality players. In today's game, fullbacks are essentially defensive-minded wingers who generally lack the skill their more attacking counterparts possess. Show me a successful fullback, and I'll probably tell you that player was a failed winger.
Gareth Bale is the exception to this rule, having moved forward from his original position as a left back at Tottenham to become one of the modern game's greatest wide midfielders. But, in general, we almost never see a natural fullback moving forward. By contrast, just about every one of the world's best outside backs today are converted wingers, from Barcelona's Dani Alves and Real Madrid's Marcelo to Bayern Munich's David Alaba, who happens to play just about every single position, including, of course, fullback.
Marc Wilmots has a choice to make at fullback.
With Belgium's overabundance of talent on the wings, you'd think the Red Devils would be churning out fullback after fullback, but it simply hasn't been the case. At World Cup 2014, Belgium lined up with four central defenders across the back four, even inserting Thomas Vermaelen for Jan Vertonghen to further emphasize their lack of talent at outside back. Tottenham's Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld are arguably the Premier League's best centre-back duo, but they'll most likely be lining up at fullback this summer. But why? Where are the Belgian fullbacks?
It's not for lack of trying by Belgium. They've tried out a number of natural fullbacks, including West Brom's Sebastien Pocognoli and Anderlecht's Football Manager legend Anthony Vanden Borre. While Pocognoli and Vanden Borre managed only three club appearances between the two of them in 2015-16, more recently Romelu Lukaku's 21-year-old brother Jordan and 24-year-old Thomas Meunier have shown promise at left and right back, respectively.
For manager Marc Wilmots, fullback is by far the biggest issue that needs addressing in this team. At the last World Cup, and now throughout Euro qualifying, Belgium's quality was more than evident, but their narrow back four composed completely of naturally central players and lack of overlapping fullbacks made things difficult for the Low Country natives against higher quality opposition. Euro 2016 looks to be no different, with Lukaku and Meunier the only natural outside backs included on the team. While Vertonghen and Alderweireld certainly possess quality on the ball, their natural inclinations as centerbacks make them less than ideal to occupy wide positions.
Wilmots basically has two options for how to set up his Belgium team this tournament: He can play his best four defenders, all of whom happen to be centerbacks, or he could opt for true balance, preserving Vertonghen and Alderweireld's brilliant club partnership in the center and including Lukaku and Meunier on the outside. It appears to make the most sense to play players in their natural positions. All indications are that Wilmots will doggedly persist in the belief that getting all his best players on the field is the best way forward. While the emergence of the modern winger-turned-fullback has changed the game in many ways, in his defense, if you're going to be weak in one position, fullback is arguably the best place to hide your deficiences.
Belgium go into Euro 2016 as one of the tournament's favorites. With a raft of attacking talent and a solid defense anchored by a world-class goalkeeper, they look set to make waves this summer. With or without fullbacks, they're expected to go deep into the knockout rounds. But, if they can sort out their issues at outside back, they just might present a real problem in the months of June and July.
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