“The ambition has to be to get through the winter in Europe. That can happen by finishing in the top 8, but I think that will be difficult. The Europa League is a very good competition, with English teams that are more than solid. But the top 24 and a play-off spot should be within reach,” Michael Verschueren said to De Standaard.
Three thresholds in one sentence: a top 8, a top 24, a play-off round. And a season described in degrees rather than in points.
“Silly question, but when does winter start in football? I looked at the calendar, I looked at the forecast, and the two disagree. In basketball you say a round, and the round has a name. Here we have eight, we have twenty-four, we have play-offs, and above all we have a season. I asked three people what getting through the winter means: I was told qualifying, holding on, and staying warm. I wrote all three in my notebook, vocabulary tab.”
It gets better. Asked about the club’s next trophy, the president warned against giving a date, then gave a date: “It’s very dangerous to set a deadline, because it would go straight into the headline of your article. Two years seems like a reasonable horizon to me, but I’d like to be challenging for the title right now. Otherwise I’d be lacking ambition. We aim for the top, every year again.”
“Two years and the title right now, both at once, that speaks to me. That’s exactly how I watch a match.”
Louise took two things from it: the dangerous deadline did end up in the headlines, and nobody in the newsroom could tell her the exact date on which European winter officially begins. Verschueren also announced talks with supporters about Europa League ticket prices.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
