De Ketelaere's dig at Rudi Garcia's Belgium spell

According to Foot Mercato, De Ketelaere was asked to reflect on the period under Garcia and didn't dress it up. The Atalanta forward's comment is brief but pointed: the structure Belgium had grown used to under previous setups wasn't there in the same way once Garcia took charge.

Garcia's time with the Red Devils was never going to be judged gently. He came in to steer a talented but ageing squad through a World Cup cycle, at a moment when Belgium's golden generation was fading and the pressure to modernise the team was already loud. His tenure didn't last long, and De Ketelaere's comments are among the first from inside the squad to hint at why.

A squad searching for identity

Belgium have spent the last few years trying to work out what they are without Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku running the show the way they once did. De Ketelaere, still establishing himself as one of the senior attacking options in this new-look side, is exactly the kind of player who needs a clear structure to make an impact for his country. His comment suggests he didn't always get one under Garcia.

It's a small quote, but it fits a pattern with national teams that cycle through managers looking for a fix. Tactical clarity is the first thing players notice when a setup isn't working, long before results start to reflect it publicly.

What it says about the Garcia experiment

None of this amounts to a full inquest, and De Ketelaere hasn't gone further than the one line reported by Foot Mercato. But for a player to say a national team lacked clarity under a specific manager, on the record, is not nothing in the context of a federation still trying to figure out its next move.

Belgium's challenge now is the same one it was before Garcia arrived: finding a coach who can organise a squad in transition, ahead of a World Cup that was supposed to be the whole point of the appointment in the first place.