5. Roberto Martinez was tactically good but it wasn’t his night:
Belgium had scored 14 goals in five matches and was hugely impressive in their 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Brazil, but had their backs against the wall against a tough French outfit.
When the Belgium team was announced, there were questions around the official line-up, suggesting Mousa Dembélé would play right wing-back and it start 3-4-3. Roberto Martinez’s tactical change [3-5-2] was to cope with France’s domineering midfielders. It was a great move to prevent the French from gaining total midfield control
Many suggested it would instead be 4-3-3 and the truth was somewhere in the middle.
Without the ball, Belgium set up playing 4-2-3-1, with Kevin De Bruyne on the right, Fellaini as the No.10 and Nacer Chadli at right-back.
Then when they had possession, it changed to 3-4-3, with Chadli allowed to push up as an attacker, Hazard going left and De Bruyne at the tip of the midfield.
After going a goal down, Martinez brought on Dries Mertens and Yannick Carrasco for Moussa Dembele and Marouane Fellaini. The idea was clear. The French were defending in their numbers which meant that the Belgians needed more men upfront as well as width.
As they lost, it’s hard to say Belgium got it right, but you can’t put the blame on their Spanish coach.