Belgian international Radja Nainggolan slammed former national team head coach Roberto Martinez and opined that the Belgian Red Devils could have picked up major silverware if it weren’t for the 52-year-old tactician.
Martinez was in charge of the Belgian outfit between 2016 and 2022 as the ‘Golden Generation’ squandered their chances at big-ticket events.
“Roberto Martinez is a poor coach. A good coach is someone who gives a team an idea,” Nainggolan said in a tone critical of the now-Portugal head coach.
“With Martinez, Belgium never had a clue. We never really had a style of play. We had no patterns, no attacking runs in the box. I believe Belgium could have won trophies if we had a better coach,” Nainggolan said.
“He is not a football expert,”
added the former Inter star.
“With Martinez, there was no tactics or strategy. When we were in trouble, it was pass to Hazard, or to De Bruyne, or to Lukaku. Never any style, never any tactics,” the 37-year-old workhorse explained recollecting the failures of the national side at the FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euros as Belgium ended up short of the crown time and again.
Nainggolan, who also had the possibility of representing Indonesia, woed his choice to play for the Belgian unit instead counting on the respect he would have received.
“Today, I tell myself that I would have preferred to play for Indonesia, for the respect they would have shown me,” the engine who earned 30 caps for the Belgium added.
Belgium could only manage a third place finish at the 2018 World Cup and face quarterfinal exits at the 2016 and 2020 UEFA Euros, before bowing out in the Round of 16 in the 2024 edition of the European competition.
