Nottingham Forest midfielder Orel Mangala has been praised for his performance for Belgium during this international break, with it claimed he’s scored ‘big points’ with his last performances.
DH cover the Nottingham Forest star today and explain how he has probably overtaken Youri Tielemans in the Belgian pecking order.
They explain that despite Belgium winning both of their games there have to be losers and Tielemans is one of them thanks to Mangala’s displays.
They say that the Nottingham Forest man ‘far surpassed’ the Aston Villa midfielder, with his display against Estonia being much better than what Tielemans had offered against Azerbaijan.
This saw him often making runs without the ball to offer solutions to teammates or positioning himself smartly so others could shine. That style particularly complements Amadou Onana, who is better paired with Mangala than Tielemans.
There is also a question of affinity, with Belgium’s players seen celebrating when Mangala provided an assist to Lukaku and that seen as a demonstration of how he is ‘very much appreciated’ by the group.
They particularly like his willingness to ‘take a back seat and work’, which it’s fair to say Tielemans has never shown any particular love or desire to do.
It’s not about him, though, but rather Mangala, who appears to be winning more fans in Belgium with every international break.
