“I made a pre-selection of 51 players for this November gathering and 20 were not available. And five players are injured and could not come. This is the first time in my career that I have experienced such You might think it’s the end of the season with so many injuries but it’s only November and there haven’t been that many matches yet. We remain focused on our objective and we will have. a great team nonetheless.”
Some packages look like diplomatic injuries, notably for Romelu Lukaku…
“No, that’s not the case. Between the end of the match on Thursday evening and training this morning in Tubize before the trip, we had some bad luck. Onana (foot) and Theate (hamstrings) had a physical problem during the match against Italy. For Theate, we did another MRI this morning to be sure but he could not play. De Cuyper has an inflammation of the Achilles tendon and Lukaku has a knee problem. did everything to have him against Italy but he is now out for three or four days And Lavia felt discomfort in his hamstrings this morning (Saturday) in training Chelsea agreed that he would come to Budapest but he. preferred not to take any risks and I can understand that.”
gullBassette who is breaking down between the U21s? It was Gill (Swerts) who decided who could come from his group to compensate for the absence of Lukaku.
Do you understand that we could think that Lukaku wanted to play against Italy but did not want to bother with a trip to Hungary for a match that was almost without stakes?
“There was no deal with Lukaku at the time of the selection. He came to play both games but he cannot play the second with his knee problem. I can assure you that the players are not trying to escape.”
In the absence of KDB, Lukaku and Onana, this is who will captain the Red Devils against Israel
To replace these five packages, you only called one player (Norman Bassette) by further deforcing the Hopes who didn’t need that. For what ?
“Openda played the full 90 minutes against Italy and it was dangerous to leave without another striker on the bench. Lukebakio and Trossard can help out up front but they play in another position. I considered taking a player who wasn’t with the U21s as a substitute but it’s not easy in this period. Some are on vacation and others on individual work so I called Gill (Swerts, the U21 coach). knowing that we had already taken a lot of players from him It was Gill who decided himself according to his game plan against the Czech Republic. That doesn’t mean that Bassette wasn’t interesting for him, but it is. what was best.”
Some people listen to what I say but don’t want to hear it.
There is a lot of criticism of you in Belgium, from the media and the supporters. How do you experience it?
“I prefer that we be positive but I have to accept it. You also have to see what I’m being criticized for. Here, it’s mainly the results. It’s true that we lost three times against France and once against Italy It’s like that and I have to live with it But let’s not forget that recently, we were happy with our performance against France in Brussels and that we reacted well on Thursday. Italy after the first 20 difficult minutes we even made a move. very good second half We have to build a new team. Some people listen to what I say but don’t want to hear it.
When you hear these criticisms, when you see that there is a whole team to rebuild and that there are many withdrawals, don’t you want to say stop and look for a job in another team?
“No, I am very proud to be the coach of this team. When I decided to become the coach of Belgium, it was a clear decision. We had a great unbeaten run before the Euro and we qualified in a difficult group. I had opportunities to walk away then and I still have opportunities now. But my parents taught me never to walk away. I’m not going to run away. I’m glad I did. had this education. I’m happy to work with these guys I know the atmosphere in the locker room and I tell you without lying: the results in this very difficult Nations League group. annoying but my feeling doesn’t change with this team.”
