Roberto Martinez Belgium World Cup Tactics

Roberto Martinez prefers to play three at the back using his favoured 3-4-2-1 and tends to have a cautious (even defensive) mentality with patient playmaking in search of the best possible shooting position.

Belgium base their game on ball possession, but their actions are patient and slow with no emphasis on progressive vertical passes to offensive players, hence long direct passes to fast strikers are rare and differentiate the Belgians’ play rather than being a scheme of play.

In defense the Belgians do not press too hard waiting for their rivals to make a mistake and saving their energy for a fast attack.

Belgium’s game is based primarily on short passes and sequences of movement in tight sectors with dribbling and running power secondarily.

The shape of the formation and the individual skills of the players help them create triangles in the wide areas between the outside centre defender, the winger and the central midfielder.

Roberto MARTINEZ profile on tacticof.com