One of the Devils’ worst first halves under Tedesco, and a second best overall but insufficient to catch up with the average. Here are the odds for this Belgium-Italy!
Casteels (6)
Nothing to complain about, absolutely no intervention. In the end, Italy didn’t really hit the mark, even if several phases were dangerous.
De Cuyper (3)
Established in a role that was expected to be very offensive, Maxim De Cuyper brought nothing this time… and above all completely abandoned his defense. His mistake on the Italian goal was fatal, and it was not the only one. A non-match which will not plead its case with Tedesco.
Theate (5)
No big mistakes, apart from a few unnecessary climbs and missed restarts. A hot ball saved in the second half. Correct. No offensive contribution however; his place is in the axis, clearly.
Field (4,5)
How can a player exude so much confidence at times, then be so worrisome at others? Faes was pretty solid in the first half, although a big mistake was saved by an offside, then occasionally messed up in the second. It’s hard to imagine him reaching a new level.
Debast (4.5)
Clearly superior to the other defenders with the ball and in the duel… but he gets trapped on goal then, in the second half, he gets completely holed and almost spoils his interesting match apart from that. If he manages to erase these moments of absence…
Chestnuts (4.5)
Where can we go with a right back Castagne? Not much further than now. Timothy does his best, almost delivers an assist for Lukaku, but his ceiling seems very low and his best level behind him. Sluggish, especially on defensive returns: there were boulevards behind his back that DiMarco exploited well.
Engels (4,5)
What a strange context for a first tenure. In the first half, Arne Engels was at times the only one to bring dynamism and desire, to scratch balls, even if it was clumsy. It gradually faded away, but at least we saw something other than Mangala…
Drunk (5)
When he concentrates on his defensive tasks, he is definitely indispensable. Abandoned by Engels at times, he brought his imposing presence into the midfield. We would like to see him associated with a Romeo Lavia…
Trossard (3.5)
If the match had stopped after 45 minutes, Leandro Trossard would have royally obtained 1/10 for the attendance rating. Fortunately, his second half, with several inspired strikes and a little dynamism, saved the whole. This remains largely insufficient for the creative environment of the team alone.
Analysts (3,5)
We may have to face the facts: Openda and Lukaku together don’t work. After the test in Austria, which was a total fiasco, it was even worse this time. Not by his fault, however: in the second half, Loïs even stood out twice and found Donnarumma in his path. But in the game and in the deviations, it was nothing…
Lukaku (2)
Such a cinema to come back and offer a performance of this level, that is not going to please the public. Romelu Lukaku achieved almost nothing apart from a few deviations, missed all the opportunities offered to him, missed simple gestures and seemed as clumsy as at the Euro. But once and for all, let’s stop associating it with Openda…
