The majority of the Belgium squad wanted boss Roberto Martinez out before the World Cup - partly because of his 'gutless' decision to persist with Eden Hazard, it has emerged.
An emotional Martinez announced that he would be leaving his role as the head of the Belgian national team after six years at the helm following their premature exit from the World Cup. Despite being fancied to go deep into the tournament, Belgium flattered to deceive and failed to progress from Group F, where they won just one of their three games.
The current tournament in Qatar represented the final opportunity for some of the current crop of Belgium players, dubbed the "Golden Generation", to live up to their billing. But after failing to do so, the inquest into a disastrous World Cup campaign is now in full swing.
While Martinez remained popular with some members of the Belgium squad, who were 'saddened' to see him go, others 'wished' he had left before the tournament, a new report from The Athletic has revealed.
It is outlined that some players in the dressing room felt that Martinez was culpable for failing to 'rebuild' the team after the influence of some key members of the "Golden Generation", including Hazard, had waned over time.
Hazard has been one of Belgium's most influential players during an international career that has spanned 14 years. The former Chelsea superstar has clocked up 126 appearances and 33 goals during that time, but his form and fitness have stalled significantly since a mega-money switch to Real Madrid back in the summer of 2019.
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Despite Hazard's struggles, Martinez opted to stick with the wideman ahead of the likes of Brighton hotshot Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku: two of Belgium's in-form players.
One source in the report insisted that the decision to persist with Hazard, who started Belgium's opening two games of the tournament, was 'gutless', while some of the squad felt that the likes of Trossard and Doku should have been considered ahead of the 31-year-old for the crunch clash against Morocco.
Martinez insisted after Belgium's exit that his decision to call time on his tenure was one he had already decided on before the tournament and was not a direct consequence of his team's abject showing in Qatar.
“That was my last game with the national team and it’s emotional as you can imagine,” the former Everton chief said following Belgium's elimination last week. “It was going to be the end whether we were world champions or out in the group stage. It has nothing to do with being eliminated at this stage. This is the time for me to accept that this day is the last game.”
