Tottenham Stars Feature in Belgium Win

Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembélé all featured in Belgium’s 3-0 win over Ireland, though not all of Tottenham’s stars came out looking better for it.

We hypothesized just before the match that Dembélé might struggle in his first Euro 2016 start. For as much talent as Belgium have, they aren’t exactly good in the same way that Tottenham are good. Dembélé’s renaissance last season was built on the firm tactical foundation laid down by Mauricio Pochettino, one that relied heavily on the type of pressing game the 28-year-old excels at.

The first half of Saturday’s match suggested that Dembélé might not be able to translate his talents from Tottenham to the type of football Marc Wilmots wants his Belgium team to play.

While Dembélé didn’t make any glaring mistakes, his presence alongside Axel Witsel clearly wasn’t contributing much to Belgium’s efforts to get forward. Ireland were content to play a narrow, deep defensive game, one that cut off avenues for the likes of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne and isolated Romelu Lukaku at the top of the formation.

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Dembélé’s passing game and creativity aren’t advanced enough to overcome that kind of set up. He can play capably on both sides of the ball, completes a mean dribble and knows how and when to close down the ball, but he was never going to be a solution for a lack of penetration.

Vertonghen at left-back and Alderweireld at centre-back were rarely tested as they were in the 2-0 loss to Italy on Monday. Ireland lacked the ability or knowledge necessary to exploit Belgium’s weakened defense the same way the Azzurri were able to.

Consequently, Vertonghen spent most of the match as an aggressive wing-back, attempting to stretch Ireland’s impenetrably narrow backline and sending in crosses when he could. It was a performance reminiscent of his first season with Tottenham, when André Villas-Boas frequently deployed him on the defensive left flank.

Alderweireld was forced to be on the outside looking in for most of the match, only completing a handful of passes and registering two successful tackles and no interceptions per WhoScored.

Even if Ireland weren’t an offensive threat — they registered precisely no shots on goal over the course of the 90 minutes — Belgium desperately needed a result to ensure they had a shot at advancing past the group stage.

They would rise to the occasion in the second half. Lukaku would score from outside the box on a well-worked counterattack, opening up the game considerably as Ireland were forced to come out if they wanted any kind of positive result for this match.

Dembélé was forced off the pitch due what looked like an injury to his ankle in the 57th minute, with Roma’s Radja Nainggolan coming on in his stead. Belgium would go on take even more control of the match, scoring twice more to leave Ireland stuck on one point after two games in their Euro 2016 campaign.

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That injury might prevent Dembélé’s participation in Belgium’s concluding match of the group stage against Sweden, though it’s conceivable that Wilmots might not have selected the Tottenham man again even if he were healthy. While he was certainly an upgrade over Marouane Fellaini, he might find some competition from a player like Nainggolan, who seems a better for for the type of game Belgium are trying to play.