Sergio Ramos, Pepe or… Radja Nainggolan. The world of football is full of these players called “bad boys”. This kind of athletes that we love to hate but that we dream of having in our team. On Monday, the La Tribune set took advantage of the passage of the Ninja on the Grill to discuss the importance of this type of players.
First to go to the coal to defend a teammate or a result, these profiles are interesting to have in a core according to Thomas Chatelle. “It’s a wealth to have people like that in a locker room. They have to be manageable”.
Pour Phillip Albertthese footballers are simply unmissable. “Whatever he does off the pitch, if he does the job, he has to start. Today, we prefer smooth players. It’s not arriving at 8 a.m., training two time before you go home at 6 p.m. that you build a mentality in a group. Sometimes it’s better to practice once before having a small team dinner. That’s where relationships are formed. I have two names to mention: David Ginola et Faustino Asprilla. The first smoked and the second drank alcohol. But at the weekend, these two guys made the difference.”.
Have the Devils managed to replace the Antwerp midfielder since his ousting in 2018? “We lack leadership or a bad boy at the Devils. We are too nice”asserts Cécile De Gernier. For Albert, Belgium would have needed this kind of players at the last World Cup. “With Eric Gerets et René VandereyckenFrance would not have made its cinema in the last five minutes in Russia”.
Who could therefore occupy this role in the national team? “We have a lot of talent but we don’t have this profile”says Albert.
Chatelle has two names in mind. “Arthur Theate. I also think of Amadou Onana. He seems to have this personality that could rock the dressing room when things are not going well.”
Pour De Gernierthe Unionist Siebe Van der Heyden could also fill this role. “I think he has that in him, just like Nicolas Raskin“.
