Radja Nainggolan is not in Belgium’s World Cup squad. It was an announcement met with a variety of responses, with many taking to social media to express their opinion on the omission of the 30-year-old. Some looked towards his bit-part role in the Red Devils’ qualifying campaign, while others wondered if his smoking and drinking habits had led Roberto Martinez opting for other players instead as the tournament approaches.
However, for those who regularly watch Serie A and AS Roma in particular, the choice is farcical. Yes, the Coach has had numerous run-ins with the opinionated midfielder, but his comments once his 28-man shortlist was unveiled carried the unmistakable stench of a public relations exercise. "Radja Nainggolan is a top player. The reason is tactical,” Martinez told reporters on Monday. "In the past two years the team has worked in a specific manner. Other players had those roles. We know Radja has a very important role in his club and we cannot give him that role in our squad.”
It is an excuse Martinez has used before, insisting that he sees him as a no.10 and that Eden Hazard or Dries Mertens are more well-suited to that position. The problem here is that while Nainggolan has often been deployed in a more advanced role by Roma, he has never and will never be a creative playmaker.
He is instead fielded there to help win the ball back high up the pitch, a choice that allowed Roma to overwhelm their opponents, with their shock Champions League win over Barcelona serving as a prime example. However, if Martinez was to see Nainggolan more often, he would see that Giallorossi boss Eusebio Di Francesco – much like Luciano Spalletti before him – has used the player in different positions too.
Indeed, a scroll through Roma’s starting lineups in the Champions League and Serie A this season – a sample size of 50 matches – reveals that they have used a formation with a no.10 on just ten occasions, with Nainggolan used there eight times. With Di Francesco’s preferred 4-3-3 formation in place for 39 matches, 32 of Nainggolan’s appearances have come as an orthodox central midfielder and he has registered all but one of his six goals (and two of his 11 assists) from that position.
Looking at the midfielders Martinez has selected only serves to enhance the feeling that this is an entirely personal decision from the former Everton boss. Marouane Fellaini has played 185 minutes for Manchester United since the start of April, his season interrupted by a raft of injuries including one which kept him sidelined during Saturday’s FA Cup final. Axel Witsel has spent the past 18 months playing for Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian, while Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker remain vastly inexperienced.
Meanwhile, Nainggolan has pushed Roma to the semifinals of the Champions League, playing with the fire and determination needed to succeed at the highest level. Tireless, inspiring and intensely motivated, he is exactly the kind of performer any side hoping to compete with the very best should be desperate to add.
Tactically aware, quick across the pitch, neat in possession and with a knack for scoring important goals, Nainggolan continues to excel while Martinez continues to overlook him. Back in August as his side prepared for matches against Gibraltar and Greece, the Coach left him out and gave another bizarre interview to explain why. “Radja is having a period of not being in optimal form, I’m sorry, but when something happens to him, it’s always a bigger news than reality,” he said at a press conference. “Simply, I needed the best players for these two matches.”
That 2017 was arguably the best calendar year in Nainggolan’s career to date seemed to matter little, but the player himself seems wholly unsurprised by the entire situation. Moments after the squad list was announced, he took to instagram to express his thoughts, backing the team to succeed and accepting that he will never be given a chance by Martinez.
“Very reluctantly my international career comes to an end,” he wrote alongside an image of him shrugging while in action for Belgium. “I’ve always done everything I could to represent my country. Being yourself can bother some people… but from this day on I will be the number one fan.”
Sadly that seems to be the truth, because he has proven his quality on the pitch week after week and to explain it away as “a tactical choice” is to do an incredible disservice to the quality, effort and ambition the Roma man has consistently displayed. If Martinez finds him unprofessional or cannot abide by his smoking habit, then he should be honest enough to say so, because speaking purely in terms of on-field production, there is no excuse to exclude Radja Nainggolan.
