Fulham hero in a precarious position after fifth defeat in last six games
By Alessandro Schiavone in Liège
Nations League Matchday 3
Belgium 3-0 Turkey
Vincenzo Montella is in hot water after Belgium inflicted a 3-0 defeat on his beleaguered Turkey in the Nations League yesterday evening.
Fulham star Timothy Castagne’s Belgium ran riot thanks to a pair of De Bruyne stunners and a Romelu Lukaku tap-in.
KDB’s first was the spitting image of the one he scored in a famous title decider against Arsenal in April 2023 with Man City.
He drove forward unchallenged with the ball before rolling a low effort beyond the goalkeeper’s palms from distance. He repeated the feat with a beauty into the top corner after the interval. That was KDB vintage!
The trashing on Belgian soil came off the back of 1-0 and 4-1 defeats to France and Italy during this international break.
And the backdrop and contest weren’t the easiest to navigate through as Arda Güler, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and company were eliminated from last summer’s World Cup in the group stage after two defeats in three. So patience was already wearing thin and it doesn’t look good for Montella, who was the first Italian in Fulham’s 128-year history back in 2007.
After joining on loan from AS Roma on January 4, 2007, he went on to strike four times in his first five games at the club and five in total.
He opened his account with a brace in a 4-3 thriller against Leicester City in the FA Cup before repeating the feat against Stoke City in the same competition.
Tottenham and Blackburn were his Premier League victims as he bowed out with a return of five goals in only 14 appearances. They were by no means Mitrovic stats, but they made for great reading nonetheless.
Yet a great footballing career only counts for so much, as Alvaro Arbeloa might be aware himself, with the Spaniard in dire need of wins at Craven Cottage to save his job.
It’s an open secret that the man who was labelled L’Aeroplanino in Italy, due to his exhilarating celebrations mimicking an airplane, is on borrowed time and could be on his way home.
Despite leading Turkey to their first World Cup in 24 years, achieving the quarter-finals of the Euros in 2024 and promotion to Nations League A, a huge chunk of Turkish supporters present at Stade Sclessin yesterday were ferociously calling for his head and asking him to do the honourable thing and step down. His once-divine reputation on the Bosphorus is in the gutter.
Shockingly, the Milli Takım have lost their competitive edge and way. Montella has laid the blame on injuries to key players such as Yildiz, Çalhanoğlu and Mert Müldür, on top of the level of opposition he is facing.
And he might have a point, ahead of facing his Italy in Bologna on Tuesday in what could be his Turkey swansong. And a tremendous twist of fate.
If only he could have used the younger, playing-Fulham version of himself up front, things might look very different!
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