While the Belgian's quality has never been in doubt but now, club and country are seeing a fully fit player who has matured into his favoured position. The 24-year-old starred at No.6 in a Belgium team including Kevin de Bruyne, Leandro Trossard, Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku in a 3-0 win over Ukraine last night, earning a 4-3 aggregate win ensuring the nation stayed in Pot A. Having come off the bench for the closing stages of the first leg for his debut, Raskin was right at the centre of this win in a first international start.
Brought off in the 90th minute by manager Rudi Garcia to enjoy the acclaim of the stands this was a significant moment for Raskin and Rangers. Branded ‘an energetic pitbull with good feet’ by Sporza, a ‘discovery’ for new coach Garcia by Voetbal Nieuws and having ‘proven former manager Dominico Tesedco wrong’ by Nieuwsblad - handed an opportunity to announce himself, the former Standard Liege man grabbed this occasion.
Ukraine’s two-goal advantage played into a conservative approach away from home with Belgium holding 70 percent of the ball on the night. Raskin, operating right at the base of midfield, has not played in a truly strong, ball-dominant side arguably since his early days at Ibrox under Michael Beale. Impressive performances in Europa League and Old Firm matches often saw Phillipe Clement’s side spend more time out of possession than with it.
One criticism of Raskin as a younger footballer was that he lacked the patience to play as a holding midfielder. Indeed, one of his former managers at Standard Liege Luka Elsner told the Rangers Review: “He is not a sitting, holding midfielder like Sergio Busquets. That doesn’t define him. I think he needs to be able to move forward.”
Last night, with no Youri Tielemans, Garcia entrusted Raskin to anchor the midfield and his tactical discipline on the night spoke to how the player has matured since working under Elsner as a 20-year-old in Belgium. As evidenced in the midfielder’s passes played (75/81 successful) the performance featured plenty of side-to-side distribution to move the Ukranian defensive shape, complimented by an occasional, well-timed, pass through the lines.
What made the showing all the more impressive was the fact that Raskin was shown a soft yellow card just five minutes into the game after a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge was penalised. That meant every recovery run or tackle had to be perfectly-timed and thereafter, Raskin won all six of his remaining duels.
Pivoting from side-to-side, to cover space behind advancing full-backs, the midfielder showed real patience on the ball. The best No.6s recognise that images like the one below don’t require an aggressive pass to go forward, but patience to create space higher up the pitch before venturing forward.
The below GIF, taken a minute after a passage of a play orchestrated by Raskin, demonstrates just that. The No.6 shifts right to cover a forward run by Thomas Meunier at right-back and spins on the ball to create an opening Trossard can play through.
There is a famous quote attributed to former Spain manager Vicente del Bosque about Busquets: ‘You watch the game, you don’t see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”
Busquets is, of course, the poster boy of modern No.6s and this above quote is a helpful descriptor for how we should watch players operating at the base of midfield in a possession-dominant team. Sometimes they can be the supporting cast, putting out fires and starting attacks. You can miss their influence in the heat of the battle but watch their every move and you’ll see how a team is trying to attack and defend.
It is that ability to co-ordinate moves, bounce passes and shift play from side to side that Raskin demonstrated in Belgium, given the freedom to progress play slowly and distribute into elite attackers all around him. For all of his patience, however, there were a good few examples of aggressive passes through the lines at the right time.
Here’s an early example. While his doggedness and speed off the ball are obvious, Raskin’s fleet of foot can also enable him to carry possession through the pitch dangerously. In this example, the midfielder’s body shape insinuates a wide pass is coming but instead, he disguises a wrapped ball into the feet of Vanaken, with a dangerous attack following.
You can see in Raskin’s game well-coached fundamentals of the No.6 role. For example, knowing to not stay in line with the ball here…
…Instead, dropping behind its line to increase the receiving distance and create separation.
During this example later in the game, Raskin tries to spread play from right to left, a pass that had come off earlier to good effect. Albeit on this occasion while a rare pass went astray, look at how possession is retrieved.
This is what makes Raskin such an interesting profile. Speaking recently Barry Ferguson emphasised that there remains ‘so much potential’ in his game but already the variety of Raskin’s talents - able to cover huge territory and thrive in big spaces off the ball while possessing the close control to dominate small areas in possession - stands out.
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There were multiple examples of well-timed defensive recoveries, interceptions and tackles all performed while on the danger of a yellow. Raskin can size individuals up and with a low centre of gravity and sprint into tackles, rarely losing out.
The below example merits a GIF of its own. Twice Raskin prevents counterattacks and starts a Belgium attack, demonstrating his big-space quality and sheer dominance when facing off one-on-one against an opponent.
This pass late on as Belgium chased a winner, again into the feet of Vanaken, was the pick of the bunch on the night. Once again, notice the minor details that make the move as the midfielder drops off before recognising he has time and space to play through the lines. Having provided a fair share of retention passes, the No.6 earns the opportunity to break through the lines.
“I am playing where I want to play now since I have come it is maybe the first time I have had a run in the number six position,” Raskin said at the turn of the year describing his uptick in form.
Last night was a big step for the individual and evidence of how he’s improved and matured over the course of his time at Ibrox. It is no wonder that transfer interest in his services is only heating up.