Who is Belgium’s new head coach Domenico Tedesco?

The Italian-German manager takes over Belgium’s reigns following Roberto Martinez’s departure.

Belgium has been a country, that has seen a steep rise in its footballing development in the past few years. Though the Red Devils were a familiar name in international football in the past, their rise to prominence has been pretty spectacular since the onset of this century, and have in-fact stamped their authority as indeed one of the strongest teams in the international level, in the past decade or so.

Despite being a footballing power house in the past 9-10 years, Belgium’s fate has taken a wild turn ever since the magic run in 2018, when the Red Devils had their best ever World Cup finish after coming third in the tournament, and have in-fact failed to perform as per their expectations in both Euro 2020, as well as the 2022 World Cup.

This poor run of form, followed by a tragic World Cup campaign. Which saw last time’s second runners-up bidding farewell right after the group stage. Eventually resulted in much agony, and disputes inside the dressing room. This fragile situation called in for some serious actions being taken. Which finally led to the stepping down of their manager Roberto Martinez, after six years with the national team.

Following his departure, Belgium started to toil for the discovery of another manager. That could take over the team, and guide them back to the golden days. This buoyant quest, finally led to the appointment of 37-year-old Domenico Tedesco. Who has signed a contract with the Red Devils until after the 2024 European Championship.

So let's take a closer look into the Italian-German manager and find out more about his style of play and career.

Career

Tedesco’s early years in football came in as a player, as he used to play for ASV Aichwald, in the pretty lower stages of German football. Seeing low success in his career as a player, young Domenico made a switch, and began discovering the managerial side of football.

In 2008, he was given duty in the youth department of  VfB Stuttgart, as an assistant coach. Over the course of time, Tedesco climbed the ladder, and by 2014, became the head coach of Stuttgart’s under-17 team. Following this, he then joined 1899 Hoffenheim, as the coach of the club’s youth team, and was later promoted as under-19 head coach.

These short stints at low positions, eventually led to his appointment as head coach of Erzgebirge Aue, who played in the second division of German football. Interestingly, at the time of his arrival, the team was at the bottom of the table in the league. But managed to earn 13 points in the first five games under Ted’s guidance, and finished 14th in the league.

At the onset of 2017-18, Tedesco put pen to paper with Schalke. He helped the club finish second in Bundesliga in his first season in-charge. But the Italian was eventually sacked by the club in 2019. After which he played two year long stints with both RB Leipzig and Spartak Moscow, before joining hands with the Belgian Red Devils.

Tactics

Tedesco has already been named as the next big German manager, and nobody can seem to argue this point. The former Leipzig head coach is a chess player on the pitch. With Schalke, his success was often seen as the reward for his pre-planned moves, timing and making the pitch wide. He made complete use of the wings, and initiated most of the play through the side-lines.

With Schalke and Spartak Moscow, Tedesco very much used a counter-attacking style of play. But forcing the oppositions deep into his half, and leaving them vulnerable at the back. Domenico also implemented a high pressing system, as an alternative stratergy.

During his tenure with Leipzig also, Tedesco used a back three in his build-up play with two pivot players staying narrow. The wing-backs provided width. The two strikers occupied their opponent's last line of defense and the number 10 sat behind them. This plan gave Leipzig a lot more free flow, and organized their operations with each player having a specific target they had to achieve.

Apart from all of this, Domenico is also a coach who puts a lot of emphasis on his defense, and usually likes to play with a back three, under a potent 3-4-3 formation.

Things to watch out for

With Tedesco’s signing, Belgium seem to have found the missing piece to their puzzle, and can finally aim for the international success, they have always dreaded for.

Domenico’s use of wings can be very well benefitted from the abilities of top-notch players like De Bruyne, Carrasco and Thorgan Hazard. The appointment of a defensive-minded coach, can also mean that we can expect major changes in the backline for the European giants, who have long struggled with their defense.

Belgium’s announcement labels Tedesco as being “known as a modern coach with top-level international experience, who likes to play an offensive style of football with plenty of forward pressure.”

Upon his announcement as Belgium’s new head coach, Tedesco said the following. “For me it is a great honour to be the new head coach of Belgium, I’m really looking forward to the task and I’m extremely motivated. I had a very good feeling right from the first conversation.”

With Tedesco set to be in charge of his first game in March against Sweden, a bright future surely awaits the 37-year-old, as the entire national attests with great optimism and faith.