KlaaZ

Should have been three or four up at the break, but scored only one. Abysmal refereeing again, but we also shot ourselves in the foot. Equalizer came from a corner that changed direction three or four times before it hit the back of the net, and they scored the winner through a disputable penalty after a hands ball (but the player committing hands was fouled). A very aggressive Cercle should have been down to ten men by then, but it was again a case of playing against 12.

A lucky 1-1 draw away at STVV in a game where literally everything went against us, thanks to a heroic performance of our young goalie. Missing almost half a team and our entire starting midfield (injured Vlietinck, Misao, Maertens, Ricca; Kiyine, Prévot, suspended Schrijvers), six games without a win including the cup (went through on penalties against an amateur side), on an artificial pitch that should really be forbidden in professional football, against a team that has been unbeaten for five league games in a row, going behind early and losing Sagrado to a very harsh red card after about half an hour of play. Hopefully this will be a morale boost to next weekend where we play high flying Cercle at home.

Note, our opponent plays in the same division as our U23, which is two lower than us, where they're a mid table side.

Well, we're absolutely shit today. If anyone wants to see exactly how shit, you can watch it live here.

To be fair, we were defensively very solid in the first half. Yes, they had a LOT of the ball, but they literally created zero chances until the goal. Could just as easily have been 0-0, 0-1 or 1-1 at the break with that last minute attempt from Banzuzi. We had a very difficult first ten minutes after the break but recovered very well and grew in the match. Their goalkeeper had more work than ours, that says something as well. Should always have grabbed a point but we find it very hard to score goals right now (only one in four games if I'm not mistaken). Hopefully the midweek cup game will be a bit of a confidence boost away at third division team Knokke (synthetic pitch though, always a bitch to play on). Good practice for sunday though as we play away at STVV who also play on synthetic.

A narrow loss at home against Club Brugge today. A very good debut for leysen in goal with Prevot injured, hopefully Garcia keeps him in the first team. Misao went off injured without an opponent nearby, something with his heel so fears for another achilles tendon tear, would be the third in a year and a half.. We're ridiculously unlucky with these injuries. On the game itself, there's definite improvement on the defensive side but we're still very weak going forward. Opoku got his second start after Genk but was once again very disappointing and subbed just after the break. Brunes came on but didn't do any better, we're very much lacking someone up front. I feel that is the missing link right now.

Problem is that we just turned it around prior to the equalizer to take out a midfielder for a striker (Brunes, who scored the goal). Gutting to come so close, but all in all I'm happy that we had everything to play for until the final minutes which is not something I had expected right now.

Think it's actually quite sound without the ball, but we're really struggling in possession.

Some interesting choices. Brys somehow wouldn't play Ndri, so very curious to see what he has to offer.

He got a win percentage of about 40% or more at every club he coached for a season or more, with the exception of Celta, where he took over when they were four points away from a safe spot and who he guided to safety, and Reims, who were relegation candidate and where he finished 12th. He also launched quite a few youngsters there, including Ekitike who is now at PSG. PS: I would also like to point out that Maccabi hadn't been champions for about ten years before he joined. They finished sixth the year before he made them win the league.

The new man starts on Monday, this game was prepared by the U23 coach who acted as caretaker manager. AS phugalu already said, the interim just kept Brys' system which is ok if you don't have the ball but doesn't work if the opponent leaves possession to you. Same idiotic subs as well, taking Misao off, bringing Suphanat on (who is nowhere near ready for first division football), leaving an invisible Maziz on the pitch for the entire game.

Quite optimistics about Garcia really, no perfect record but what coach has that, and all in all quite a good history. Also the type of manager who isn't afraid to give youth a chance, something which is very valuable in Leuven.