Belgian coach Marc Wilmots has angrily dismissed suggestions of unrest in the camp ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s Group C clash with the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux.
Wilmots has been heavily criticised since Belgium’s 2-0 defeat to Italy in their opening game, with goalkeeper Thibault Courtois among those questioning the team’s strategy afterwards.
The 47-year-old was also forced to deny claims that he no longer has control over the squad and that tactics are being decided by the players following yesterday’s closed-door session.
“I’m the man in charge. I make the decisions,” he declared, before going on to describe the claims as part of the “football circus”.
“We trained yesterday and changed the system yesterday. We only made one mistake [against Italy]. I gave my opinion to the players, they then gave their opinions and then we trained. That’s normal in football.”
For his part, Courtois claimed his comments had been misinterpreted and attempted to play down any controversy surrounding the clear-the-air talks.
“We’re all winners, you want to win a game,” said the Chelsea goalkeeper. “I was a little bit frustrated after the match. Perhaps we didn’t do what we need to do in that game, but we must learn the necessary lessons.
“It was constructive criticism and we have worked on it as a team, and we need a positive result tomorrow as a team.”
Thibaut Courtois played down any tension in the Belgium camp after his comments following Italy game, via @corktod.https://t.co/0Jb2vZTYkN
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 17, 2016
Belgium came into this tournament as one of the favourites with a vast array of attacking options, including Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, and a solid backline featuring Spurs pair Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
However, the humbling defeat by Italy has again led to many Belgian football observers questioning whether Wilmots is the right man to get the best out of this squad, which is currently ranked No.2 in the world
The man who played in four World Cups for his country from 1990 to 2002 is taking such criticism in his stride, however, and expects his players to do likewise.
“Let’s take 2002, we had two draws and everyone killed us,” he said. “We can manage the pressure quite well. It’s not life and death.
“Our aim is to try to do the best that we can. All of the top sides are really having to scrap. It comes down to small margins. It doesn’t bother me.”
Wilmots expects De Bruyne (pictured) to be available after concerns about his fitness but also joked that there could be “between two and ten changes”, with only Courtois guaranteed his place in the starting line-up.
Ireland have never beaten Belgium in the seven competitive games, with Wilmots a member of the team that denied Mick McCarthy’s squad a place at the 1998 World Cup in France with a 3-2 aggregate win.
That night in Brussels, the last time the two countries met, brought back good memories for Wilmots when it was raised here, and he’s hoping for a similar outcome almost 19 years on.
"At first sight, you see Shane Long and he is just a short striker but he is good in the air, he is very dangerous, he’s quick with good feet and he scores goals."
He said: “Clearly you don’t forget the play-offs when you go through. It was a very good game over there.
"Of course there are great memories. We are going to wait for the result. We know the press expects a lot of us.
“We always have confidence going into the game. I have been coach of the last 47 games and we have lost only five times including friendlies. I don’t like losing and I hope to see a reaction tomorrow on the pitch.”
Meanwhile, Courtois pointed to Shane Long as the man Belgium have to be most wary of.
Courtois knows all about Long as he scored for Southampton when Chelsea won 2-1 at St Mary’s in February.
He said: "At first sight, you see Shane Long and he is just a short striker but he is good in the air, he is very dangerous, he’s quick with good feet and he scores goals.
"It’s tough to compare him to Lukaku, Christian Benteke or Michy Batshuayi, but I think he is at the same level. He has scored a lot of goals at Southampton and we need to keep an eye on him."
At the other end, Courtois has called for Belgium to be more prolific in front of goal after Lukaku and Divock Origi wasted good chances against Italy in Lyon on Monday night.
"We have to be sharper in the box and score goals," he said. "In the two friendlies before the Euros started, we were sometimes lacking that.
"I think Ireland is a team who have lots of Premier League players so a lot of our players will know what to expect.
"They will fight for every metre and they will be ready for every ball, so we have to have the same intensity on our side to win the game.
"It will be a hard game, but if we play well we should win and we have to win."
