Where are the culprits? A question regularly asked when a terrible failure occurs. In recent hours, the Belgian press, well helped by its foreign counterparts, has been trying to understand the reasons for the Belgian fiasco in Qatar. Eliminated in the first round by finishing third in their group behind Morocco and Croatia, Belgium suffered, as such, a lot of criticism and the first consequences were not slow to emerge. Announcing his departure in the wake of this elimination, Roberto Martinez has, in fact, left a whole group with his doubts and his anger.
Before this decisive match against the Croats of Luka Modric (0-0) where Romelu Lukaku will have, in particular, had several opportunities to bring his people out of torpor, tensions had been revealed in the locker room, in particular between Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courteous. This Sunday morning, The Athletic nevertheless brings some crisp details. If the British media affirms that the alleged conflict between the middle of Manchester City and the last bastion of Real Madrid would have been exaggerated, specifying, as such, that the two stars are in “good terms”he nevertheless confirms a “tense discussion” between Jan Vertonghen and Eden Hazard.
The complicity between Roberto Martinez and Eden Hazard did not pass…
In this context, The Athletic rightly indicates that the case of the former Lille resident would have annoyed several players in the Belgian locker room. The media then specifies that some members of the workforce would criticize Roberto Martinez for having shown too much loyalty to the captain of the Red Devils, especially against Morocco, where according to them, Jérémy Doku or Leandro Trossard would have been more suitable. to start this meeting. Criticized for his performance, Hazard has also failed to score a single goal or assist at this World Cup (after scoring three goals and delivering two in Russia four years ago).
During his three appearances in Qatar, in 124 minutes, the former Chelsea striker completed only five dribbles… far from the 40 successful in 2018. Symbol of a much lower level of play and a lower performance on the Belgian game, Hazard finished the 2022 World Cup with fewer successful dribbles (5) than in the only 2018 semi-final against France (11). However, the Merengue, regularly injured in recent months and unable to put the same intensity as that seen in 2018, has retained the confidence of his coach. A strong and certainly clumsy message sent by Martinez to the rest of the group. (Too) respectful of the status of his number 10, the coach thus plunged the Red Devils into a deleterious atmosphere. A lack of courage ultimately responsible for various splits in the locker room and a resounding failure on the sporting level. His successor is warned…
