Rudi Garcia's fate hinges on New Zealand clash

The Red Devils know exactly what they must do on Saturday morning at 05:00 Belgian time to extend their World Cup adventure: win. Or at least avoid defeat and hope for favorable results elsewhere. Early wins appear increasingly necessary to build momentum heading into the clash with New Zealand.

Public opinion runs wild during World Cup tournaments, with up to eleven million armchair coaches weighing in. The coming days will bring even more analysis, including input from prominent pundits.

Hein Vanhaezebrouck has made his preference clear, advocating for Hans Vanaken in the starting lineup against New Zealand. "New Zealand has physicality and throws plenty of balls into the box," he noted. "That will be another point of attention. They play direct football with quick transitions and lots of running. We need to be careful not to end up in trouble again."

Vanhaezebrouck added: "They’re not that weak. But New Zealand isn’t a double-defensive wall. They play open football, so I can’t imagine us not beating them. But if you don’t win this match, you have no place in the next round."

Frank Raes highlighted the saturation of opinions surrounding the team. "Analyses are exploding right now—everyone has a solution," he said on Frank & Franky. "There are hundreds of podcasts and opinions, and everyone has their idea. It remains talk of the town, and its importance to the public is enormous."

Raes continued: "I almost feel sorry for Rudi Garcia. Everyone has an opinion. His is the only one that matters, but for how long? If everything goes wrong now, it’s goodbye Garcia. After the tournament, they’ll review things—that’s sensible."

Raes added: "But the atmosphere is still good. It always is. Though results do influence morale." Franky Van der Elst chimed in: "It will be silent on the plane if we have to go home early. But I want to add: we’re all shouting from the stands, but it’s easy for us. The manager has to make the decisions, and that’s much harder."