Anderlecht lost 2-1 at Beerschot and are out of the Belgian Cup in their first match. That much I understood straight away: in basketball too, when you lose, you’re out.
What I understood less is the aftermath. I opened the “press conferences” tab of my notebook, on the 7:32 train. Vitor Bruno said: “It’s my fault we lost.” Several times. I marked each one with a small tick. Silly question, but if it’s his fault, why say it several times? Once is a confession. Several is almost a method.
Then he said the team had caused Beerschot plenty of problems, even with 10 men, and that it is “playing better than in previous weeks”. I made a “better” column and a “knocked out” column. Both are filled in. I’m told that’s normal, that every manager sees the positives. Fine, but what does that mean?
He also mentioned circumstances you don’t control: no VAR in the Cup. I had a whole tab on VAR taking too long. I need to open one on VAR going missing.
Ludwig Augustinsson says his teammates told him there was a foul before the second goal. He doesn’t claim it himself, he’s passing it on. I found that honest. He points out that ten players arrived this summer and that the team is “under construction”. In basketball, we’d say you’re playing without knowing the plays.
And the crisis? Vitor Bruno answered that he doesn’t see the situation that way. Before this match, Anderlecht were fifth in the Pro League with 0 out of 6 in the Europa League. I have no official definition of a crisis. I checked, and actually nobody knows.
A crisis is when the club delegate stops turning up. As long as he comes, we’re building.
Next trip: Jagiellonia Bialystok, then Gent. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
It’s true, we checked: L'Avenir.
