I won’t let Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ end up like England
MARTINEZ VOWS TO TURN TALENT INTO SILVERWARE
BELGIUM’S ‘Golden Generation’ are in no danger of making the same mistakes as England, insists Roberto Martinez.
One look down the list of players in his World Cup squad tells you why their fans and media have put them in the same bracket as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Co at the height of their England careers.
Now the former Wigan, Swansea and Everton manager has the task of ensuring Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Co fulfil their potential – rather than failing – as those Three Lions did.
Martinez said: “You do try to find out what stopped England going on to achieve something.
“Over a lot of years you speak to people who played against that team or were in the dressing room, and you’re trying to find reasons.
Clicked
“It’s very difficult when something hasn’t really clicked – it’s very interesting.
“There are many dressing rooms, many teams, because it doesn’t just happen at international level, it happens at club level.
“And there is never one reason why things don’t click into place.
“It’s almost a combination of things that for one reason go the wrong way and it almost becomes a negative momentum.
“You speak with people and you share differences but what you learn is every group is its own. You need to find the level of commitment of everyone to become a team. “I’m not bothered by the label one way or the other but to be the Golden Generation, you need to win gold. “You need to win the Olympic gold or the World Cup, you need to win something. We need to make it a Golden Generation.” The talent Martinez has at his disposal is impressive. Romelu Lukaku (inset), Vincent Kompany, captain Hazard, De Bruyne, Mousa Dembele, Jan Vertonghen, Thibaut Courtois and Toby Alderweireld to name but a few. But the Belgium boss sounded a note of caution because international football can be unforgiving. They face Panama first in Group G before Tunisia and then the big one against England. Martinez, who turned down offers to return to the Premier League before signing his new two-year deal with Belgium last week, added: “When you get into international level, the margin for error is very, very little because straight away you are in the knockout phase. “Even if you lose a game in the group phase you are going to be up against it to try to qualify. “That means you have to have a real strong mentality to make it competitive. “Of course, the tactical and technical aspects of the game are important. “But in the end when you play international football so much depends on the psychological side of the game.” So will the England game be the biggest of Martinez’s career? “Maybe you will have to ask me then,” he said.
Involved
“It depends on the meaning. The games are only what they really represent. “I have been involved in games when you could win a title, I’ve been involved in games where you could get relegated, I’ve been involved in games where they could give you the achievement of staying in the Premier League. “The meaning of the game is not who you are playing against, it’s what’s riding on it and what you get out of it if you perform well on that day and get the three points. “It will be a unique encounter and there will be no secrets between the two sides. “The amount of links between the two groups of players is quite amazing.”