Van Bommel draws parallels with Mancini ahead of Belgium-Italy opener

Mark van Bommel is preparing for his first game in charge of Belgium against Italy, and he believes the two teams are closely matched as both begin new eras in the UEFA Nations League.

Belgium make the trip to the Stadio Olimpico on Friday to begin their Nations League campaign, their first match since exiting the World Cup in the quarter-finals. The 49-year-old is Belgium’s third managerial change in as many years, and becomes the first Dutchman to take charge of the Red Devils since Dick Advocaat back in 2009.

Rudi Garcia was dismissed following the World Cup after Belgium impressed in the group stage before losing late on to eventual tournament winners Spain in the last eight. Excluding the third-place play-off match, Belgium have now been eliminated from each of their last four World Cup knockout stage ties against fellow UEFA nations, since beating Spain on penalties at the quarter-final stage of the 1986 tournament.

Garcia took charge of 20 games, recording 12 wins (D6 L2), to finish with a 60% win rate, with Van Bommel the next man in the hot seat. It is Van Bommel’s fourth managerial role, and his first since spending two years in the Belgian Pro League with Royal Antwerp between 2022 and 2024. He won 57 of his 107 matches in charge across all competitions (D21 L29), averaging 1.79 points per game along with a 51.4% win rate, while also winning three major titles.

Van Bommel comes up against another manager making his debut in Roberto Mancini, though it is his second stint with the Azzurri after he replaced Gennaro Gattuso following their failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

"Italy are in the same situation as us"

"It’s not easy to prepare the team in four days. We had some meetings with the players to explain what we wanted to do," Van Bommel said.

"We want the ball, and if we lose it, to win it back as soon as possible. We want to dominate the game, but it’s not easy when starting a new era.

"We’re in the Nations League against Italy, France and Turkiye, so there’s no time to experiment, but Italy are in the same situation as us."

Squad notes and tactics

Van Bommel has named a strong 25-man squad for the clashes with Italy, France (home and away) and Turkiye, though some big names are also missing. Thibaut Courtois is unavailable after requesting to be excused from the matches, while Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana, Alexis Saelemaekers and Thomas Meunier also miss out.

He chose to name four uncapped players, which include goalkeepers Jari De Busser, Mike Penders and Maarten Vandevoordt, along with young full-back Kyriani Sabbe.

Kevin De Bruyne is also in despite struggling for fitness with Napoli, with reports saying Van Bommel flew to Italy to convince him to remain a part of the international set-up.

"Kevin, Lukaku, Tielemans, De Ketelaere, we have several players with a lot of experience, others who are in Serie A, so it’s good that we can adapt to Italian football," he added. "We’ve got players who can bring that experience to the team and help the younger members."

Van Bommel revealed he would adopt a 4-3-3 formation against Italy, but said his preparations had been hindered given the uncertainty around Mancini and whether he would change his tactics from his previous stint with Italy.

"It’s difficult to prepare, because you don’t know what he is going to do. Gattuso was the coach last season. I know Rino and his style of football," Van Bommel said. "It won’t be easy for Italy either. I watched many of Roberto’s games. I’m not sure if he will do the same things, they might have a 4-3-3, we’ll see."