Roberto Martinez’s winning mentality puts Chelsea’s Belgian stars at risk

Roberto Martinez held nothing back in a dead rubber match for Belgium, including three Chelsea starters. Michy Batshuayi scored in his first competitive international start, but Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois could have used the rest.

Chelsea fans owe some begrudging credit to Roberto Martinez. The man certainly exudes a winning mentality, even if it does lead him to some potentially reckless decisions. While England and Italy couldn’t be bothered to put forth the effort – let alone put on good show – in their meaningful games, Martinez treated Belgium’s dead rubber against Bosnia and Herzegovina as a marquee match.

Belgium had already secured their place in the World Cup with an eight-point lead in Group H going into the last two qualifying matches. Martinez sent out his best XI to play spoiler to former Chelsea backup Asmir Begovic’s Bosnia side. Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi and Thibaut Courtois started for the Red Devils, alongside a host of other Premier League stars including Kevin de Bruyne.

All three Chelsea players went the full 90 minutes. Roberto Martinez’s aggressive lineup keeps Belgium undefeated in the qualifying rounds. They play bottom-of-the-group Cyprus on Tuesday. Cyprus will want to win to finish their qualifying campaign above the basement. Martinez’s motivations are more difficult to divine.

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Martinez may have viewed the Bosnia game as an opportunity for his best XI to have another 90 minutes of playing time as a team. Like any national coach, he has few opportunities to train his team and have them develop the tactical rapport a tournament demands. He may approach dead rubbers as full-contact scrimmages, rather than a chance to rotate and test new players or combinations.

He may also be trying to send a message to his players and the rest of the world: Belgium is ready to compete for the biggest trophy of them all. The ‘no days off,’ ‘every game matters’ mentality could be part of the culture he is building with the Red Devils. They will not relent until they are victorious in Russia. Chelsea’s Belgian contingent should be very familiar with that approach after a season with Antonio Conte.

Less favourably, Martinez may be over-compensating for personal reasons. His appointment to Belgium, a dark horse contender for the World Cup, met with skepticism. Belgium are his first national team, and his first coaching position outside of England. He was an unlikely hire and was not given strong odds of success. The undefeated streak may be as much about him as the team.

The greatest risk, particularly from Chelsea’s perspective, is losing a player like Eden Hazard to injury for a game that means nothing in the big picture. Hazard is finally back to being himself after a freak injury he suffered at Belgium’s training ground. A re-injury or a new injury would devastate him, Chelsea and Belgium.

If that were to happen, Roberto Martinez would quickly learn that nobody remembers the coach or team that goes undefeated in the qualifying rounds.

Roberto Martinez has likely already had a very unpleasant conversation with a very unpleasant Jose Mourinho. Marouane Fellaini left the pitch injured, and is out indefinitely.

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Martinez will not want to answer a call from Antonio Conte if something untowards happens on Tuesday. If Martinez is so desperate to play Hazard, let him play Thorgan. Eden means too much to club and country to risk against Cyprus in the service of messaging.