Belgium’s current crop of stars can rightly be referred to as their Golden Generation. Despite a number of defensive casualties, Belgium are widely considered one of the favourites to lift the European Championship for the first time in their history. Marc Wilmots has at his disposal a raft of offensive options to rival any nation participating at France 2016. The nation’s hopes rest on the shoulders of arguably the most talented Red Devils outfit in its history.
In the final third, Wilmots can call on Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Dries Mertens and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, the latter pair largely utilised as impact subs. It goes some way to highlighting the immense strength in attacking depth available to Wilmots this summer, given two of the more potent offensive threats in Europe struggle to force their way into the starting XI. The question now for Wilmots is who leads the attack for Belgium in France.
In a favoured 4-3-3 formation, the Belgium boss requires just the solitary frontman to spearhead the offensive and he is - like in wide areas and central midfield - not short of options. Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi and Divock Origi are the four designated strikers in the squad all battling for one spot in the squad and each has made a good case for their inclusion in the starting XI.
Based on goals alone, Romelu Lukaku is the stand out choice for Wilmots. The young striker netted 18 goals in the Premier League last season; only Harry Kane (25), Jamie Vardy and Sergio Aguero (both 24) bagged more. Of all Belgians in Europe’s top five leagues last season, the Everton star topped the scoring charts. Indeed, last term was his most prolific in the league since his move to England in 2011 so - on paper at least - he is the first choice option on the frontline.
However, it must be said that Lukaku ended the campaign poorly. His final Everton goal of the season was his and the club's second in the FA Cup 2-0 win over Chelsea midway through March, with he failing to find the back of the net in his final 10 games of the domestic season for the Toffees. While he scored in friendly meetings with Portugal and Finland - a good omen ahead of Euro 2016 - the 23-year-old struggled to string together a prolific run of form as the season neared its climax.
It was not for want of trying, though. Lukaku averaged 3.2 shots per game in the Premier League last season, the sixth best return. While that figure dropped to 2.1 over the final nine games of the campaign, Lukaku was still one who routinely went for goal when possible and it paid dividends as his goal return suggests. A dip in form could largely have been down to Everton’s dire end-of-season performances under Roberto Martinez, with a lack of tactical acumen contributing to a poor downturn in form that ultimately cost the Spaniard his job.
Yet that didn’t affect Batshuayi’s form for Marseille, with the 22-year-old netting an impressive 17 league goals for the disappointing Ligue 1 side. Like Lukaku, his goal haul was the fourth best in his league last season, but he boasts a marginally better minutes per goal return (one goal every 172.8 minutes) than the Premier League ace (one goal every 176.5 minutes). In a worse club side, Batshuayi also registered more assists (9) than Lukaku, while no Belgian player provided more than the sought-after France-based frontman in Europe’s top five leagues last season.
Fortunately for Wilmots, both Lukaku and Batshuayi are similar strikers, in that they prefer to hang off the shoulder of the last defender rather than call on their unsatisfactory hold up play. Moreover, they prefer an offensive approach that sees them utilise their ability to run with the ball at the defence, with both strikers completing 1.1 dribbles per league game last season. Should Wilmots opt for an approach that requires a striker to play off the last defender, then chances are Lukaku’s international experience will weigh heavily in his favour.
The Everton man has 44 international caps to Batshuayi’s five, with his tournament experience a defining factor, though that isn’t to count the latter out entirely. Both of Batshuayi’s goals for Belgium have come from the bench and it seems more likely than not that he - like Mertens and Ferreira-Carrasco - will be used as an impact sub this summer. Of course, Wilmots has options with which to mould his attack and should he instead opt for a striker to bring others into play then he can do a lot worse than Benteke.
While the powerful frontman endured a mixed debut campaign for Liverpool following his big money switch from Aston Villa, Benteke’s goals still won more league points (10) than any other player for the Reds. Furthermore, the 25-year-old was directly involved in a league goal every 126.7 minutes for the Merseyside outfit last season, despite 15 of his 29 appearances coming from the bench. With the offensive firepower operating behind the lone striker, Wilmots could instead call on Benteke to bring others into play rather than rely on a frontman who makes runs in behind the opposition backline.
When taking into further consideration that Belgium regular Toby Alderweireld averaged the second most accurate long balls per game (6.3) of all outfielders in the Premier League last season, Benteke is the ideal frontman to call on should the Red Devils wish to adopt a more direct game plan. He has won more aerial duels (318) than any other Premier League player in the last two seasons, highlighting just how effective an attacking threat he is when teams use a direct approach.
Liverpool teammate Origi is another possibility for Wilmots should he wish to start a player whose approach is a combination of the three strikers, while his form since Jurgen Klopp took charge is a vast improvement than under Brendan Rodgers. Injury ruled the former Lille star out for the remainder of the season and while he is expected to be fit for Euro 2016, chances are Origi will be used sparingly from the bench and only if required.
Nevertheless, Wilmots has at his disposal four sufficient frontman capable of firing Belgium to glory. The quartet of striking options offer differing offensive threats, which improves the Red Devils’ chances of continental success in France this summer.
.jpg "Analysing Belgium's Striking Options in France This Summer")
