Anderlecht: the highs and lows of a season full of twists and turns

Wesley Hoedt

Recruited last summer for free from Southampton, the former Antwerp took a while to acclimatize and then become a taulier within the defense. His relaunch and distribution abilities have also unlocked situations. 48 matches, for 4315 minutes played. This is called a boss season.

The Zirkzee-Kouame duo

If the first months were difficult and the two friends did not « assist » each other enormously, their contribution to the game this season has been immense. The technique and the vista of Zirkzee, the combativeness and the extremism of Kouamé. In total, the pair have scored 26 goals this season, a third of Mauves’ total in the Pro League. Solid. Even if the clumsiness of the Ivorian and the nonchalance of the Dutchman have sometimes been lacking, their absence next year could hurt Sporting very badly.

The attack went full throttle

We just talked about the duo who scored a third of Sporting’s goals this season, but it still takes a lot of people to score the rest. Anderlecht scored a lot this season, especially during the second half, and tied for second in the ranking of the best attack with Bruges (80 goals) and behind Union (83). No wonder, when you see the league stats of Refaelov (12 goals), Verschaeren (7 goals) or even « super sub » Benito Raman (9 goals).

Sergio Gomez

We grant you, his second part of the season was much less successful than the first. But the fact remains that the confusing Spaniard, replaced as a left side by Kompany, impressed. 12 assists and 6 goals, all in 4207 minutes played. If he leaves, Anderlecht also risks bitterly regretting it …

Whatever we say, the youth responded present

Kompany has said it several times: a season is a long time. So, to make sure to have a fairly large squad – larger than last year in any case – and that his game system holds up, the coach’s decision was to gradually integrate young people into the core and to call upon them when necessary. We saw Verschaeren and Amuzu – at the end of the season, in his case – really progress, first. But also and above all, Debast, Kana, Delcroix, Arnstad, Sardella, Verbruggen, Stroeykens, Sadiki or even Duranville receive the opportunity to show themselves. It’s progressive, of course, and Vanhaezebrouck also took the opportunity to joke about Samoise’s playing time which was higher than that of the « kets » mentioned above. We must nevertheless recognize that it worked rather well this season – a little less well in the case of Ait El-Hadj, interesting all the same in the play-offs – and that it sticks to the spirit of a project wanted on the long term. Hoping that the new rules with the U23 in D1B don’t prevent young people from being integrated in this way in the future…

One more floor down

Anderlecht has certainly succeeded in joining the Champions’ play-offs and beating a competitor in the person of Antwerp, it does not prevent that in the face of the two « monsters » that have been this season Bruges and the Union, it There was no picture: 3/12 and no victory against the first, a scathing 0/12 against the second. Anderlecht seems close to the peaks again, but is yet so far…

A question of mind, or naivety

As we have just said, Anderlecht have always been taken cold during their confrontations against the Union. If we speak in this case of the inability to float against an opponent, that of seizing one’s moments or not making a mistake at decisive moments has sometimes been glaring. Dominant then, Anderlecht sank against La Gantoise, who would surely have won the Champions’ play-offs if the Cercle had not gotten in their way. If Anderlecht recovered well, in particular by beating Kortrijk, this mentality was also lacking during the Cup final, where we felt a real excitement. Precisely, Anderlecht has sometimes been unable to finish its occasions, or to manage its emotions (for example against OHL, Standard or Cercle).

Kristoffer Olsson

Well, we are not going to shoot the ambulance unnecessarily, as we know that he is a player with undeniable qualities and that he has shown them… except that it was during one and only match, at the beginning of April against Charleroi (4-0). The rest of the time he seemed to play by putting the brakes on, continually seeking his place and his role. To the point where one can reasonably wonder why Anderlecht transferred him in view of his profile, which is ultimately very far from that of a Lokonga, less useful than a Cullen or less daring than a Kana. Hoping that the enigma will be quickly solved, in any case this season it was more Ashimeru the solution.

A decisive next season

Not really a negative point, rather a « small » conclusion which could also complicate the situation in Anderlecht. This season has shown some pretty good promise, so it’s clear that more will be expected from Kompany and his men in 2022-23. Already, we will have to perform in Europe. Then, it will be necessary to « really » titillate the summits. « We are Anderlecht, we always want to win everything, » said Kompany. We feel that the « process » could take a new boost next year, obviously with the help of a well-felt transfer window, but also that a season like this stamped « successful but not too much » could then pass much less in the eyes of many observers…