Tactically… Anderlecht won 4-1, and none of the four scorers had scored in the league yet. With us, when a lad scores for the first time, we buy the cone of chips for the collective. Four at once, and the clubhouse bar would have funded the transfer window.
Vitor Bruno had been criticised by his CEO Kenneth Bornauw, his owner Marc Coucke and the media. Coucke said: “Our coach lacks experience”. Bornauw, according to a question put to Bruno after the match, thinks he made things more complicated by putting Mario Stroeykens in a position that isn’t his.
I opened my folder. Putting a lad in a position that isn’t his, I do that every Sunday. When we’ve got eleven, that is. Bruno, for his part, answered that he respected the opinion, that he doesn’t criticise opinions, then praised Stroeykens, who kept working after his early-season mistakes and had a good game. That’s a gaffer.
And then: “My parents, and my father above all, taught me to solve problems within the family, internally. Don’t count on me to put on a show in public. I won’t do it.” Internally, at my place, means the prefab dressing room, door shut, the club delegate sitting on the folder. My dressing room doesn’t need VAR, it has the club delegate.
On the pressing, the Westerlo coach regrets, according to the question put to Bruno, that Anderlecht didn’t press high as usual. Bruno says they adapted a little without changing identity, played very high in the second half and had 20 shots. Adapting without changing identity is my 4-4-2 on pitch 2: sloping, but still a 4-4-2.
The difference with Ghent, where Anderlecht had been taught a lesson in efficiency according to the question, he calls efficiency. Twenty shots, four goals. Give or take a flat pitch, mind you.
He’s not putting on a show. Noted. That’s become rare.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
