Domenico Tedesco switched back to a system with two attackers to face Italy. The intention was that Loïs Openda would be able to enjoy more space, but that never actually happened.
After the 0-1 defeat against Italy in the Nations League, the national coach, Domenico Tedesco, was questioned about the association between Romelu Lukaku and Loïs Openda, at the forefront. “We see a lot of potential there,” Tedesco began. “The two players like to play together.”
“Romelu is a real ‘target’ striker, one you can always lean on and play on. He’s the best in the world at protecting a ball, then Lois has to turn around him and take advantage of it.”
Evolving Openda and Lukaku together, the good idea?
A system which has not paid off, but which Tedesco does not intend to abandon. “What we fully understand is that we need to play deeper. We had so much space in the first half, but we didn’t use it well. The ball needs to go behind the players’ backs more often. defenders, for us to optimally use the speed and depth of Lois We need to better understand how he runs and what he needs, but he is the future of this selection.
Great praise and a lot of positivity, while the Leipzig striker only touched… two balls in the first half. “We need to look at why this is happening. As a striker you depend on the balls coming in. It’s up to us to work to make them better served.”
Finally, Domenico Tedesco stressed that Romelu Lukaku and Loïs Openda had to come together more often on the pitch. “Only then will they be able to complement each other and make our game more dangerous” concluded the coach on this subject.
