Who from “the A pond” will succeed Domenico Tedesco? “The top players should also look up to him”

After the dismissal of Domenico Tedesco, the logical next question remains unanswered for the time being: who will be the new national coach of the Red Devils? A few names are doing the rounds, but analysts Gert Verheyen and Wim De Coninck are not burning their fingers. What they can say: “He has to get old and new on the same page, but the association faces a difficult thinking exercise.”

Both analysts agree on one point. “Domenico Tedesco’s dismissal happened quite late,” said Gert Verheyen and Wim De Coninck in unison in Sporza Daily.

The contract had been all but torn up for a while, but the final divorce was only officially confirmed today. “It is good for everyone, including Tedesco himself, that there is now clarity. It has not been pleasant for anyone.”

For Verheyen, the seed of the dismissal lies with “the failed European Championship”. “It’s very difficult to make up for something like that. Usually, trainers immediately leave if they haven’t done well at a tournament. The fact that Tedesco was able to stay on was actually exceptional.”

“The mistake the football association made was extending his contract for the European Championship. They should have waited for the result of that tournament. Because now we have wasted time with, among other things, the Nations League.”

The association will have to come up with an experienced trainer, but there will have to be sowing for the pocket.

Wim De Coninck

“Tedesco was innovative as a flexible coach after Martinez had stubbornly stuck to his principles, but after those first good matches against Germany and Sweden he completely lost himself in them,” says De Coninck.

“It was chaos on and off the field and you got the feeling that the players had become the boss. Just think of the many cancellations at the end of the Nations League. Suddenly everything was possible, while he had to play more of the boss than Martinez. He had to be above the players and that was his downfall.”

In that climate, a new national coach must be found. “The association will have to come up with an experienced trainer, but there will have to be sowing in the pocket. For example, Tedesco still has to be paid and if you ogle someone like Sergio Conceiçao (who went to Milan), you know that you will pay a lot .”

“But you need someone with the halo of a top coach, someone who is looked up to. Even by men like Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku. They work with top trainers. But finding such a coach is not an easy task.”

Sticking names to that vacancy is a thought exercise that can burn your fingers. Gert Verheyen does not dare. “That’s not my job and I don’t know the market,” he grins.

“There are names circulating, but I don’t think they will be the ones. That’s usually how it goes in such a search.”

“What I do know: with Vincent Mannaert, that search is in good hands. We can have 100 percent confidence that he will not take the first available coach. He will fish in the A pond.”

“Then you have to hope that someone has enough desire and that it is financially feasible. We just have to wait and see who it will be.”

There are names floating around, but I don’t think they will be the ones. That’s how it usually goes in such a search.

Gert Verheyen

According to the rumor mill, Thierry Henry, Rudi Garcia and Mark van Bommel are on the Belgian radar.

“Henry refutes that himself. He knows the selection as a former assistant, but that can also be a disadvantage. As T1 you have to adopt a different attitude,” says De Coninck.

“Van Bommel has done a great job at Antwerp, but only there. As a player he has worked with many top coaches, but it will still be a difficult thinking exercise for the KBVB.”

“The new coach has to start virtually from scratch and faces a tough task. The Nations League awaits in March, and the World Cup preliminary round starts in June.”

“Fortunately, due to the easy opponents, there is a run-in period and we will qualify anyway, but we have to build and work on a permanent core.”

Under Tedesco, the Belgian selection has received a facelift. “There was no other choice,” Verheyen underlines the end of the so-called Golden Generation. “Some players quit themselves and Tedesco was also asked to continue selection.”

“But as you also see in other countries: the end of a generation is always a difficult moment. You then fit in new and inexperienced players and that is often where trainers stumble.”

“Did it have to be done so drastically and was everyone ready for it? Difficult to say, but so far it has not been successful. And above all: the boys who remain must also be able to live with it.”

“Kevin De Bruyne has already made it clear that he is having a hard time with it. I am curious whether his successor will succeed, because this process is still ongoing.”

“We still need those top players, otherwise the transition will be much more difficult. But you have to get old and new on the same page.”

“There is talent, but it is not the same as before and it may not be again. Can we still get to that level? That is quite a challenge.”

Preud’homme and Vanhaezebrouck know that there may not be too much honor to be gained from the national team in the coming years.

Wim De Coninck

It is a challenge that Michel Preud’homme and Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the main Belgian candidates, seem to thank.

“They indicate that they are not interested,” De Coninck interprets. “They also know what a difficult task awaits them.”

“We have good young people, but at what level? Especially in the Ascension, we lack players of international quality. I think that is why Michel and Hein fit in. They know that there may not be too much honor to be gained from the national team in the coming years. .”

So there is quite a lot of work to be done for Tedesco’s successor, whose name we do not yet know. “But the fact that Tedesco has now been fired means that you have a successor or are close to one,” Verheyen estimates.

“You cannot be without a national coach. So I think this news means that the association has almost got a new coach.”