For several weeks already, Alzate has been evolving alone in six at the start of the meetings. But this position of Alzate raises questions.
Marc Wilmots tempers but is not 100% convinced: “He can occupy this position. He is always well placed. But as a defensive midfielder he is not aggressive enough, not strong enough. He’s a good player on the ball but he doesn’t project.”
Pour Nordin JbariAlzate doesn’t really seem able to fill the position vacated by Raskin alone: ”The problem with Alzate is that in the Standard system, Balikwisha starts with him, he always goes deep on the right side. And so Alzate is always all alone. And there it is complicated.“
“Deila, since Raskin left, he’s been trying to fill in, tinker“, explain Cécile De Gernier “Cimirot, in each match he goes up next to Alzate as a reinforcement. With Raskin it was certainly easier, we could make him play alone there and there was a real energy, here, you have to tinker. Even if at the same time, defensive midfielders, he has some in his workforce. So he absolutely wants to play Alzate there, very well. But then there will always be gaps.”
Will Still, in the Standard staff last season, knows Nicolas Raskin well. And he admits that replacing him with just one other player is not easy: “It’s complicated, really very complicated. Also because it was a personality. He had an impact in the locker room, everyone was listening to him. Nico is a good guy, but also a great player, very complete. He recovers a lot of balls, but he goes forward and is able to score, it cannot be replaced overnight.”