Mark van Bommel under fire in Belgium: French criticism and unexpected support

Mark van Bommel begins Friday evening in Rome with his first match as Belgium's head coach, but the Dutchman is already under a microscope because he does not speak French. The criticism mainly comes from the French‑speaking press, which doubts his suitability for the role.

French language as the focal point of the debate

A reader survey by La Dernière Heure showed that ninety percent of respondents consider Van Bommel unsuitable because of his lack of knowledge of French. Former international Marc Degryse, former PSV player and now a well‑known analyst, finds that debate nonsensical. "That is absurd, isn’t it? This should not be a topic at all", he tells De.

Degryse emphasizes that Van Bommel, as a Dutchman, already speaks one of the two major languages of Belgium and that English is the lingua franca between coach and players in modern football. "As a Dutchman he speaks one of the two major languages spoken in Belgium and moreover, in modern football the lingua franca between coach and players is English", he explains.

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Experience and support from Belgian football

According to Degryse, Van Bommel already has a connection with Belgian football thanks to two seasons at Royal Antwerp FC, where in his first year he even secured the double. The analyst cites a statement from Toby Alderweireld: "Van Bommel is the best coach I have ever worked with".

Degryse suspects that the resistance mainly exists in Wallonia, where people would have preferred to stay with predecessor Rudi Garcia. Nevertheless, he sees the language debate as outdated. "I know that Van Bommel has said he wants to take French lessons. But if I were him, I wouldn’t spend too much energy on that sort of thing and I wouldn’t care about that whole outdated discussion".

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Sportingly, Van Bommel faces a tough start with matches against Italy, France and Turkey. "There is little time to work on the playing style on the training ground", says Degryse, but also sees an opportunity to show what the Belgian team is capable of.