Mark van Bommel demands dominant Red Devils in Izmir after Liège win despite Turkish home advantage

The Red Devils travel on Wednesday to Izmir for the return against Turkey, while national coach Mark van Bommel, despite the 3-0 win in Liège, is far from satisfied and demands a dominant performance. He wants his team to retain control of the game and neutralise the home advantage of the Turks.

A month after the convincing 3-0 victory over Sclessin, Belgium meets Turkey again.

New Turkish factor

In Izmir the Red Devils face a completely different context, especially now that the home side have appointed Sergen Yalçın as a new national coach.

Mark van Bommel therefore does not want to focus blindly on the result of the first leg.

"We did not fully dominate Turkey in Liège, even though the score might suggest otherwise. They constantly create more chances than their opponents, so they can pose a lot of danger. They only lacked efficiency," he told La Dernière Heure.

Turkey wants to make an immediate fresh start against Belgium under national coach Sergen Yalçın.

That adds an extra unknown factor in the Belgians' preparation.

Bommel warns Belgium, the lesson from France before Izmir

"With a new manager the playing style will likely be different. We need to prepare for that and I think we have done so well," Van Bommel said.

Aside from the Turkish plans, Mark van Bommel mainly looks at his own squad.

He expects Belgium to be able to control more phases in Izmir and to draw the initiative towards themselves.

"We have already done that at times in France, although it happened there less often. That is where we want to go: to make progress in every match."

Red Devils leave Belgium for Izmir before Nations League

Mark van Bommel is very open about the core problem of the Red Devils.

The national coach is aware that Turkey, backed by the home crowd, will be able to apply pressure regularly.

"There will be moments when we cannot stop the opponent. Then we must organise our play well. This group is smart enough and can execute that. It is not easy, because we only have two or three days to prepare. Last time we handled that quite well and I think we can do it again," he concluded.