When I took over as Belgium manager, there were some questions. People asked: “Why are you coaching a national team already, at the age of 37?” But I saw big advantages to it.
I had been a manager in club football for six years – and with big clubs, including Schalke, Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig. Now, as head coach of a national team, I have a lot of time to really think about football. I have the time to see other clubs and other players.
Between the international windows, during the week I can see nine or 10 club games. I will have a look at Arsenal, for example, because Leandro Trossard is playing there. Or Manchester City, where we have two players. Or Luton to see our goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.
It is a really fantastic part of the role to speak with the players. It is important for me to understand how they think – because everybody is different – and to have a big picture about everything. I really enjoy that side of the job.
The biggest challenge with international management is that you have many ideas, but you have absolutely no time to train. Outside of the major tournaments, you have to focus on a few sessions per camp. It was something I was not used to at first, coming from club football. After a game, you have good situations and bad situations. As a manager, you can work on and improve all of them. So with international football, from camp to camp, we have to see if there is anything we can do in between with the players.
Every player is different. Some need more contact and communication. They need you to visit them, or speak by Zoom, telephone, or just messages. That allows you to stay informed, perhaps to tell them they played a fantastic game, or maybe to find out if they are injured, or need something. It all depends on the player.
We have other characters who, once in their club, really just want to focus on club football between the international games. I understand it, because I was a club manager. It is good that players are focused on the daily work at their clubs. Players also need freedom.
Most important is that players have a good feeling when they are invited to play for the national team. We want them to think: “Cool, I’m invited. I like being in the hotel with the Belgium national team. I like the training pitch, the staff and my teammates.” This is very important – if they come, they come in a good mood. It is something we focus on and try to create. It is important to perform and get results, but always in a good atmosphere.
With Belgium, there is a big fit between my main ideas as a manager and the capacity of the players we have. This team needs the ball, so we try to be the dominant side in possession. When we don’t have the ball, we should try to regain possession as fast as possible.
Of course we have the idea of numerical overloads in some areas of the pitch. Sometimes it’s on the wing, sometimes in the centre. But we also know that, with the players we have, even if we don’t have a numerical overload, we can have a certain, let’s say, “quality overload”. I really enjoy working with our players and the way we try to play football. Sometimes we might make mistakes and fail, but then we have to make the next step.
We know the national team has lost a lot of quality players in recent times, like Eden Hazard, Axel Witzel, Toby Aldweireld and Simon Mignolet. But we have also brought in young players with big potential, like Jérémy Doku, Arthur Theate and Zeno Debast, to name just a few. The team is hungry, with big potential. We are talented – very talented – but in some positions really young, so we will see how things go at Euro 2024. We have to find a balance. Experience is sometimes important.
Whoever plays, we will be motivated to do everything we can for Belgium. To motivate people, you have to get deep inside the player to find out what drives them. In a national team, that is probably more difficult than with a club. At a club, you work with the players every day. You see them when they wake up in the morning and can see if they have some problems.
As a club manager, I could tell a player: “Come to me, we will drink a coffee after the training session.” And then you speak with them for an hour and you can feel that, for example, OK, they have family problems. You can really go inside and try to see what kind of motivation is most important to that player. If family is the most important thing to them, you could then create more family days at the club. You can invite their family to games, or have a special event with them.
As a club manager, I knew it was important for players to be in their national teams. So if your club is competing for trophies, the focus will be on that team, giving a bigger opportunity to play for the national team. And something we always try to explain is that winning games and titles automatically brings motivation for yourself.
My ambition is always to be in a good atmosphere that works: that the leadership – the sporting director, general director and president – have a commitment to the coach, staff and the team’s ambitions. I like the people in the Belgian federation and the players, so it’s a really good moment for me. The organisation needs to be cohesive. In the long term, it is important that you have this kind of close family. Then you can achieve everything. That is my belief.
