Belgium — Where Does All The World-Class Talent Come From?
By Debarshee Mitra on August 27, 2013

Belgium: the land of Tintin, exotic chocolate, quintessential beer, refreshing sprouts, the Smurfs and also Miss Justin Henin — but football? Surely not something Belgium is particularly known for, not until now at least. But times are changing, and how. The Belgian invasion in world football is well and truly underway and unlike many who cite “luck” and “coincidence” as reasons, the rise and rise of Belgian football as a whole is no flash in the pan. Discrete planning with a deep rooted youth structure initiated not so long ago have acted as the necessary irrigation to harvest one of the best crop of Belgians in recent memory. When a nation of 11 million people begin to produce one world class talent after the other, one just can’t ignore the phenomenal growth. The Diables Rouges, as they are famously nicknamed, have started to find their own feet after patient investment at the grassroots level. All it needed was a desire, a change, a renaissance. Much like madness, apparently even success happens to be like gravity: all it needs is a small push.

Reworking Belgium’s youth development structure
When Turkey eliminated Belgium, beating them in the final group game in Euro 2000, the host nation mourned and that itself was the proverbial push. The Belgium NT had become a pale shadow of the team that produced one of World Cup football’s greatest matches ever against the Soviet Union en route to a fourth place finish in 1986. This stark lack of quality and fall from grace didn’t go unnoticed by the Belgian FA, who developed a blueprint aiming to change the country’s footballing philosophy and target a sustainable growth in the future.
The proposed move began with overhauling the typecast professional approach of team development and introducing a more enjoyable approach to the game in the form of player development. Michel Sablon, a former player, assumed the role of technical director and that in itself was a huge turning point for the country’s fortunes. The focus was on education, right from the basics of being comfortable with ball at feet to the complexities of team dynamics and tactics, every player was educated step by step. Players know their roles at an early age and that helps them gel in to the system. What’s interesting is that there is not much attention given to physical strength at an initial stage of a player’s development; instead the greater focus is on technical skill development.
Another very important aspect is the adsorbed familiarity to match conditions after spending hours on the training ground. Replicating and applying the skills honed and embodied at the training ground in a match environment is best possible when the two resemble each other in more ways than one. The whole ideology, to fabricate a flexible comfort zone for players from a young age, is what has paved way for the successful conveyor belt of talents coming out from Belgium. But the Belgian FA can only do as much as put in a plan, the execution would have been impossible without the active participation of the clubs.

The role of Belgian football clubs
Belgian Jupiter League is ranked 12th among all European leagues by UEFA, and considering the dark and troublesome history behind it, it’s safe to say they are on the right track. 30 years back when the national team were enjoying its greatest moment under the sun with legends like Scifo, Gerets and Pfaff at the helm, a criminal background was identified in the league. A bribery scandal followed after Roger Petit and Raymond Goethals falsified records in order to avoid taxes. Suspensions, followed by insane fines imposed on clubs, hit the league where it hurt most. Clouds of suspicion from the scandal remained as banks and finance firms refused to invest in the league, not giving loans to clubs and this in itself weakened an already not so rich league.
As the situation went from bad to worse in the early 90′s, a business model was setup to combat the meltdown. But it soon went obsolete in 1995, as the infamous Bosman transfers came into existence. Not much changed until 2002 when out of nowhere the Belgian Pro League signed a multi-million television deal whereby each team earned almost 16 million Euros over the course of a season, improving on the 2 million they earned previously. Belgian clubs profited immediately, setting up academies and better training facilities in the last decade. Standard Liege, Anderlecht and Brugge have been the primary beneficiaries of the new earned money. While the financial backing was key what made the Belgians successful in their endeavors was an unified approach, working for a common goal.

Each and every team in Belgium are preached to practice a 4-3-3 system playing high tempo football, and this approach is made not only at club level or national level but at every age level. Michel Sablon believes more than 90% clubs and teams comply and this gives the national team a much clearer outlook in its methodologies. Key elements such as marking in zones to hone decision making skills, providing experience in matches, not discriminating before the teens and providing equal game time not only bring about a fee-good factor in the camp but also install immense confidence and a freedom of application with the football. In most countries, even countries having the best leagues in the world, there is a barrage of instructions from the sidelines, almost forcing the player to make a decision. In Belgium, the approach is much more open-minded. Unlike elsewhere, even after a below-par performance or two, young players are not subbed out or frozen out on the sidelines.
The amount of opportunity available is spectacular to say the least, and the results have hardly been disappointing thus far. While in England players are often scouted if they possess a certain level of physical bulk, in Belgium the coaches and training staff refuse to judge a player until they mature fully. There is a strong belief that players can well and truly be late bloomers, and the later one develops in his teens the better it is. Not a viewpoint many would agree with, but the pool of talent in Belgium is segregated after the age of 14 into players who are early and late developers. With the sort of players blossoming from the system, not many would complain. However the bigger problem arrives when the hotly tipped youngsters fly away across the continent serving the bigger clubs.

Talent that has flown the nest
The national side at present has only 4 players plying their trade in Belgium, with most others leaving for greener pastures. What’s testifying to Belgium’s rise is that of all national teams in the world, Belgium rank third in terms of combined transfer fees, only behind Brazil and Portugal. Much of this investment in Belgians has come from the Premier League where no fewer than 14 players belong to the Rode Duivels. The fact that most of the exceptional talents choose to move sooner rather than later acts as an added impetus on developing a strong youth structure. Stars like Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku have all benefitted from the same.
In 2007, Belgium reached the U-17 European Championship semi-finals, a first in the country’s history, and the following year went onto beat Brazil in the Beijing games. Players like Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Mirallas among others were involved back then and their personal know-how has helped them foster better on-field relations, something that is reaping rewards now as they represent the national side. And this is a side that has its eyes all set on Brazil ’14 after missing out on 5 of the last 6 major tournaments.
After finishing 5th in the Euro 2008 qualifying, Belgium have surely come a long way, leading their World Cup Qualifying Group by 3 points and look all set for Samba land. Putting behind a difficult past and a horrible political divide, Belgium look to join hands in an attempt to bring back the glory days of the mid 80′s. Or who knows? They might take it even further. The desire is there, the side is brimming with talent and they seem to have a plan as well. Talks of football dominance might seem premature, but it would be hardly exaggerating Belgium’s potential. Geographically sandwiched between heavyweights France and Holland, Belgium could have as many World Cups as the 2 combined by July next year. Monumental rise indeed.


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( P.S The link to this article was posted on another thread. I have posted the whole article here so interested readers won't miss it. )