Why Will Belgium Be Splitting Tottenham’s Centre-back Pair?
By Ryan Wrenn
Tottenham’s star duo of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld seem set to play on opposite sides of the pitch in this summer’s Euros.
The pair made a case — some might argue the best case — for being the outstanding centre-back pair in the English Premier League this season. They formed the heart of one of the league’s best defenses, and displayed a level of coordination and synchronicity that the best club’s in the world wish they had at their disposal.
In recruiting Alderweireld last summer, Tottenham was not trying to recreate the two Belgians’ chemistry in the centre-back positions. While they are both mainstays in Marc Wilmots’ Belgium side, they have almost always occupied the full-back positions while Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Lombaerts take up the centre-back positions.
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In the past this has made sense. Alderweireld and Vertonghen have experience playing on the flanks even if it’s not their natural positions, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for Wilmots to shift them wide.
Things have changed ahead of this summer’s Euros however. The injury Kompany picked up in the opening minutes of Manchester City’s Champions League semi-finals second leg against Real Madrid will preclude his participation in the tournament, meaning that Belgium suddenly look weak in the center of defense.
One would think that Wilmots would be thrilled to have such an able pair as Alderweireld and Vertonghen to call upon what with Kompany out of the running. Yet it appears as if no changes will be made after City youngster Jason Denayer was brought in to fill the void left by Kompany’s exit.
It’s a fairly baffling situation to those unfamiliar with Belgian football. How could Wilmots justify skipping over such a stellar pair with a long track record of well-honed chemistry in favor of a 20 year old like Denayer and a veteran like Lombaerts whose only club experience has come in Belgium and Russia?
The answer comes down to something like chance. Wilmots and Belgium as a whole have been blessed with an outrageously talented generation of footballers in virtually every area of the pitch. There’s Thibaut Courtois in goal, Kompany at centre-back, Tottenham’s Mousa Dembélé in the middle and a bevy of phenomenal attacking options. They are among the favorites for this summer’s tournament in France for very good reason.
Somehow, someway this crop of stellar players failed to yield a single genuinely impressive natural full-back. Sure, plenty of full-backs populate the Belgian leagues, but none stand out so much as to be included in Wilmots’ regular squad.
Consequently, Alderweireld and Vertonghen’s value as full-backs often overshadows their value as centre-backs, especially when Kompany is healthy. Indeed, the nature of Wilmots’ tactical scheme — in sum, trying to get the ball up toward that aforementioned bevy of attacking options as quickly as possible — means that having a bit more of a defensive tendency in wider areas actually helps matters more often than not.
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Even with Kompany now injured for the Euros, the math still works out in such a way to necessitate Alderweireld and Vertonghen stay on the wings. There is some hope in the form of Jordan Lukaku — Romelu’s little brother — who often plays left-back for current club KV Oostende, but in all likelihood it will still be the Tottenham pair occupying Belgium’s flanks.
Perhaps one day Wilmots will be convinced at the Tottenham duos’ superiority in the center of defense, though a quality set of full-backs would likely have to emerge before that can happen. That might not happen this summer, but Tottenham fans can still hope for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.