Tactically… Antwerp beat Charleroi, then lost at Cercle Brugge a week later. Marvin Compper puts the difference down to intensity. I read that on Monday, at the clubhouse bar, with my mug of coffee and the table for the third provincial division (Belgium’s Sunday amateur leagues) open beside it, like a verdict.
Intensity. I know it well. At my place it depends on the pitch, the slope and the time I have to pick the kids up. One week we press high, the next we press uphill. The level in the third provincial division has gone way up, people don’t realise: we have the same swings as Antwerp, nobody just asks us about them at a press conference.
Compper also said his players did not apologise for their performance, and that the team wins and loses together. I run that on Tuesday. When we’ve got eleven, that is. Teamwork is the only thing that costs the clubhouse bar nothing.
He added that his side is the third youngest in Europe and not yet stable enough. I have the third oldest in the province, and it isn’t stable either. We meet in the middle, eh.
On Saturday, Antwerp host newly promoted Lommel. Compper says that game shouldn’t be overrated, that Cercle was a “must-win” as well, and that Saturday will be a test of character. I opened my folder and wrote “must-win” at the top of Sunday’s page. The club delegate asked if it was a new signing.
A test of character against a newly promoted side, that’s either historic or a disgrace. I’m weighing my words.
Me, I’m keeping the 4-4-2. At home, no slope, with character: a flat pitch away, mind you, it’s what I’d do as well.
It’s true, we checked: VoetbalPrimeur.be.
