How beloved Roberto Martinez is by the Red Devils was best illustrated by Dries Mertens. After his free kick goal, he ran directly to the national coach, as a congratulation for his 50th game as national coach.
Mertens explained it afterwards. “Look, I have a lot of respect for that man, on and off the field. I had a lot of contact with him when I missed the previous games. He knew I was really disappointed and talked to me a lot and helped me. you’re close to your 100th cap, you want to play it all. He said to me, “Come to the game against England and score!” It was my way of thanking him, “said Mertens. “It is a coach who is happy to let you come to the national team.”
Not only Mertens has a good relationship with Martinez. All players are full of praise for him. “But then again, Dries is also a bit of his scrunchie, isn’t it?” “But he deserves that too. All players have a strong connection with the coach. It’s great that he is put in the spotlight.”
Martinez had to laugh when he was asked about Mertens’ action. “Dries really wanted to play the last match against England. Before the match I reminded him again of his promise that he was going to score. He wanted to let me know that he was doing his part”, smiled Martinez.
