“The best thing to do is to talk to the papers and this is a game that goes on behind the scenes… but it’s not a problem for me.”
It’s hard to look at the Belgium camp and not think that there’s a bit of unrest among the ranks.
Marc Wilmots and Thibaut Courtois appeared in front of the international press on Friday afternoon at the Stade de Bordeaux. A united front might’ve been the intention but they were hardly cuddling one another in the eye of the press. They weren’t even interacting.
The goalkeeper had been accused of aiming a dig at his manager after Monday night’s defeat at the hands of the Italians. He said that technically, tactically, and organisationally, Belgium were outclassed.
So he was brought before the media, side-by-side with Marc Wilmots and he scrambled in a backward direction – inadvertently turning the dig on his team mates.
“I was slightly misinterpreted,” he said. “I think we were well-positioned tactically but at times people didn’t do their job.”
Marc Wilmots knows what he’s doing.
You chat to the Belgian journalists and they’re visibly pissed off at the control the national boss has managed to wrangle over his players. In all the talk of leaks and unrest, most of their on-the-record interviews are bland, box-ticking exercises that give nothing away. Courtois’ criticism of the team was actually an oasis of truth – if it wasn’t a home truth, it was at least next door.
Then he went and moved it on down the road again under the breath of his manager.
The tension was there in Le Haillan on Thursday and the edginess was there at the stadium on Friday.
Not much craic out of the Belgians. Marc Wilmots is the only one talking pic.twitter.com/Z1A5ZczziS
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 17, 2016
There was a real insignificant moment that spoke volumes during the warm-up of Ireland’s training session in Bordeaux. Shay Given, training separately with the ‘keepers, shouted over to the sideline for a cone. Whatever way he pronounced it, whatever way he was asking for it, every single one of the outfielders thought it was hilarious.
They ran together in a line around the middle of the pitch and you could hear the laughter and the mockery being sent back down towards the Donegal man. “Cone! Co-in! Co-wan!”
The ‘keeper stood and looked at them all. “Bunch of f**king comedians up there,” he responded. The roars and cheers came back even louder.
David Meyler with the pass of the evening at #IRL training. Dink. pic.twitter.com/vlv0QdxqPP
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) June 17, 2016
It was just standard slagging but it was relaxed, it was fun, it was the exact opposite of the Belgian session an hour previous.
Eden Hazard led the players out to a rain-ruined pitch and they all stood around awaiting instruction. One or two were ballsy enough to produce a few kick-ups on their own. For the rest of them, it just looked like a case of, “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
And, with the manager right at the heart of the drills, pointing out every five-yard pass, the only man being heard in a 40,000-seater stadium was him and the atmosphere was grim. Dare say it but it all appears as if some of them are happy to write this tournament off as a bad beat.
“I’ve played in four World Cups,” Wilmots likes to remind everyone of that sometimes. “Let’s take 2002, we had two draws and everyone killed us after that. We’re quite used to that and can manage it.
“It’s not life or death. Things are going to be resolved before and after the tournament.
“It doesn’t really bother me [the criticism]. For my players, it’s something else. They’re the players that ultimately play. I choose a team, I come up with the strategy but, at the end of the day, they’re the ones that have to play.”
You can feel it all permeating the camp. Even insiders admit that the loss the first day out has made the footballers nervous – the ones who Wilmots stopped short of putting all the blame on. They need to beat Ireland, there’s no two ways about it and that brings with it pressure – more pressure than the pressure that Belgians constantly pressure themselves with.
Last Friday, the second-string team was said to have beaten the first team 4-0 in a friendly.
Now, Wilmots is waiting on the fitness of De Bruyne. Romelu Lukaku’s head is on the chopping board. The players are reported to have met with the manager to discuss the tactics on the training field in Le Haillan and he’s threatening to make as many as 10 changes for the game against Ireland.
His only ally? Thibaut Courtois.
“No I’m not concerned,” he spoke about apparent leaks from the camp. “That’s all part of the footballing circus, if you will. I don’t believe that players are leaking info. They’re a bit like managers as well.
“The best thing to do is to talk to the papers and this is a game that goes on behind the scenes but it’s not a problem for me.”
It doesn’t sound like he believes himself anymore.
And his team are said to have long since stopped listening anyway – especially when all they’re hearing is how many World Cups he’s played in.
When Martin O’Neill talks of Belgium, he talks about them as individuals. Everything they’re doing right now is as individuals. From the management to the 23rd player. That could well be enough to get a win against Ireland because they have individuals who can produce in a given moment.
But it’s also what gives Ireland their biggest chance. It’s what makes Belgium’s self-destruction inevitable.
