Rudi Garcia made some adjustments between Belgium-Iran and New Zealand-Belgium. One of them is a much more “solid” approach on defense, and that’s not necessarily good news for Nathan Ngoy, who is returning.
Rudi Garcia spoke about the return of Nathan Ngoy after disqualification and even partially defended his defender, who was the last to be sent off after a mistake in the match with Iran. “It’s good that he’s back. He’s doing well. I think he played a very good match against Egypt and the same can be said about the match against Iran,” the national coach said.
“And most importantly: it’s not 100% his fault. Sometimes we have to pass the ball to our goalkeeper a little faster.” Words that echo those of Thibaut Courtois and therefore place some of the blame on Hans Vanaken.
Bad news for Ngoy eyeing Senegal?
Yet Garcia also wants to highlight what Nathan Ngoy is still missing. “Between the match with Iran and the match with New Zealand, I focused on grinding and aggressiveness. Sometimes you just need to throw the ball into the stands, and you don’t always want to play pure football or look for a beautiful defensive solution,” the Frenchman said. “It’s something that Nathan, with his technical ability, still has a bit of learning to do.”
Against New Zealand, this was the main change Rudi Garcia wanted to make. “New Zealanders are real power players. But we knew that if we knocked Chris Wood out of the match, it would be over. He didn’t hit the ball. Mechele and Teate quickly dealt with this,” the national team coach smiles with humor.
The same aggressiveness towards Senegal?
This is understandable: Rudi Garcia likes “old school” defenders such as Brandon Mechele: “In that sense, a player like him is interesting. He is present, he goes with his head, he brings intensity. He’s a true old-school quarterback and we need him,” he says. “You can’t just play with good, constructive defenders. We focused on grinding because it’s crucial at the World Championships.”
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So, let’s read between the lines: Arthur Tiat played this role perfectly against New Zealand. He, possessing excellent technical qualities (trained as a defender), put aside his dexterity for a moment and scored several goals into the stands (“in the USA they are difficult to knock out of the stadium,” Garcia joked, by the way). Nathan Ngoy, according to the national team coach, has yet to take steps in this direction. Does this mean that a LOSC player, even after returning from suspension, will remain on the bench? It’s possible…