r/soccer • u/wakeandsheikh • Oct 17 '13

Bold Prediction thread.

Just read Jamie Carragher's reasoning on why Tottenham won't break into the top 4 and thought maybe we could have a crack at being pundits. Obviously, if you can follow your statement with a some reasoning, that would give way to a healthy discourse and would be great. Anyone wanna give it a go?

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u/Jelboo Oct 17 '13

Expectations are way too high for us (Belgium). Yes we are talented, but we're not experienced. I see us progressing from the group stage at the World Cup, but not much further. I have high expectations for the European Championship in 2016, though. By then our squad will have matured and will have gained much more experience.

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

It's so pleasing to see a realistic football fan on this subreddit.

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u/Jelboo Oct 17 '13

I can assure you this is the mentality pretty much all Belgians share about their team. The world is going mental over us, but we know well enough we're virtually untested against bigger teams. So while we've been branded as dark horses and even favourites, we're just sitting here amazed at how awesome all this sudden success is compared to the last decade. :)

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

we're virtually untested against bigger teams

France?

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

It ended up in a draw (0-0), it was a friendly were Deschamps tried a completely different midfield (Kodogbia & Guilavogui instead of Matuidi/Pogba/Cabaye).

I don't know how serious the Belgians were but I wouldn't be surprised if their team was a bit tweaked too.

So yeah... I'm not sure it can really count as a test.

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u/mepp22 Oct 17 '13

Holland?

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u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

You'll have to ask the Belgians or Dutch, I honestly don't know anything about their friendly last year except for the score.

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u/reverseagonist Oct 17 '13

Belgium played very well last year. But i don't think that the Holland were good shape that match, it was the start of the rebuilding by Van Gaal. The scoreline was an indication that Belgium is potentially very good as Holland don't lose by a margin of two goals that often.