OH Leuven Thread 23/24

[Phugalu]

4 hours ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...watching the game v Antwerp, we are causing ourselves so many problems as we struggle to do the basics well!!!

Antwerp are such a good technical team, every pass sticks and they have flare players who are not prima donnas. Antwerps #10 is tricky, he can beat a man at will, with no need for stepovers, drops his shoulders, takes the ball to the byline and cuts it back, someone who understands his role.

  We have had half chances but the percentage of play is way in Antwerp's favour. 

  One hour is gone and OHL are a goal down, I wonder if we can steal a point at the back end of this game, Antwerp is not going for the kill, but moving OHL around a bit though.

We owe it too ourselves. Antwerp was the better team for sure. But we squandered all our chances. We have a good coach, no doubt, but we need a quality injection in january. I hope we can get rid of any deadwood too.

[Bonanza]

Results and standings after week 16

 

 

 

Friday December 8th

 

 

Saturday December 9th

 

 

Sunday December 10th

 

[sacreblueits442]

...having watched the game against Antwerp, we looked more improved and hope we can take that into our next game!!!

Anderlecht are a good team and we managed to hold them to a 1 -0 scoreline, where we created one or two chances with good movement and understanding. We will be climbing this league soon, as soon as the players become comfortable with the playing style.

[KlaaZ]

On 02/12/2023 at 22:07, sacreblueits442 said:

...watching the game v Antwerp, we are causing ourselves so many problems as we struggle to do the basics well!!!

Antwerp are such a good technical team, every pass sticks and they have flare players who are not prima donnas. Antwerps #10 is tricky, he can beat a man at will, with no need for stepovers, drops his shoulders, takes the ball to the byline and cuts it back, someone who understands his role.

  We have had half chances but the percentage of play is way in Antwerp's favour. 

  One hour is gone and OHL are a goal down, I wonder if we can steal a point at the back end of this game, Antwerp is not going for the kill, but moving OHL around a bit though.

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. 

[Bonanza]

On 03/12/2023 at 22:49, sacreblueits442 said:

...having watched the game against Antwerp, we looked more improved and hope we can take that into our next game!!!

Anderlecht are a good team and we managed to hold them to a 1 -0 scoreline, where we created one or two chances with good movement and understanding. We will be climbing this league soon, as soon as the players become comfortable with the playing style.

4 games left before the break: St- Truiden away, Cercle Brugge at home, Gent away and Eupen at home.

 

Time to pick up some points and gain some confidence for the rest of the season

[Bonanza]

 

[Bonanza]

 

[KlaaZ]

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

 

 

[KlaaZ]

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

[Bonanza]

 

Win after penalties against amateur team Knokke...

 

For reference: their striker has a 9 to 5 job at a local garage... 

[Ryy]

 

[KingsX]

On 07/12/2023 at 09:20, Ryy said:

 

 

You can't beat the way the camera swings too wide and misses their goal, but the video does give a replay ...

  ... of the camera swinging wide and missing the goal  

[KlaaZ]

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.

[shen]

13 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

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.

I couldn't believe the stats - something like 25 shots, half on target and only conceding 1. Surely on that basis alone the goalie deserves to be player of the week!

[Bonanza]

Results and standings after week 17 

 

 

 

Fixtures for week 18

 

Friday December 15th

 

 

Saturday December 16th

 

 

Sunday December 17th

 

[Bonanza]

 

[Leuven Fan]

KP is excelling at being absent in Leuven. 

[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.

[Phugalu]

47 minutes ago, Leuven Fan said:

KP is excelling at being absent in Leuven. 

The same board will get two teams relegated in two different countries in two years time... coincidence? I think not.

Maybe it is time to get to the root of the real problem.

We have nice infrastructure, but that doesn't win us titles. Points do.

The decisions that have been made in the last couple of years e.g. not sacking Brys after our CEO asked for it multiple times in the last few years because you gave him a too big of clause in his contract partly put us in this mess. It is unthankful to Garcia to clean up this shit.

I think it is time to make a clean slate in the board and get renown people in with experience in the footballing business. Marc Overmars is a good example at Antwerp (although he is a bit shady).

Also look at Brighton and Union where they buy players based on stats and analyses.

Look at Dortmund who buy great talents and make them better and sell them for a huge profit.

It is not difficult to figure out what works to get a team to the top, but you need the right people in the right places for it.

Let's start there shall we?

[Lambert09]

you are just a year behind us… the board have not turned a corner at all, they got the decision to hire maresca right… but as i’ve said previously this was more down to luck. We didn’t look at 4 marescas, we looked at maresca and people like parker.. we just won the coin flip. 

 

i’m sorry this is happening to you. 

[Bonanza]

19 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

you are just a year behind us… the board have not turned a corner at all, they got the decision to hire maresca right… but as i’ve said previously this was more down to luck. We didn’t look at 4 marescas, we looked at maresca and people like parker.. we just won the coin flip. 

 

i’m sorry this is happening to you. 

King Power and TOP have lost all interest in OHL. They just don't care anymore. Khun Vichai visited Leuven at least once a month. TOP hasn't been to a home game in over a year...

[Lambert09]

49 minutes ago, Bonanza said:

King Power and TOP have lost all interest in OHL. They just don't care anymore. Khun Vichai visited Leuven at least once a month. TOP hasn't been to a home game in over a year...

probably truth in this. I think if he didn’t have the connection with our club and his father he would be the same with us. 

 

I think your problem and our problem, is that Top wants to be hands off. The reason it’s a problem is that the people he’s trusting to run the clubs, are the wrong ones. 

 

Rudkin must struggle to sleep at night with imposter syndrome. 

Edited 16 December 2023 by Lambert09

[KlaaZ]

23 hours ago, Bonanza said:

King Power and TOP have lost all interest in OHL. They just don't care anymore. Khun Vichai visited Leuven at least once a month. TOP hasn't been to a home game in over a year...

I think that's a fair assessment, although there are some other factors at play. The squad isn't bad but there are some serious imbalances, which are not helped by all of those injuries. I'm fairly sure we'll see a very different team with Maertens, Ricca and Misao back after the winter break, if only because it actually gives us more options. 

 

Hopefully, they'll send Opoku back to Leicester, promote Idumbo to the first team as a replacement for Nsingi and go look for a similar profile to Brunes. Add another decent midfielder and maybe a winger and we're ok, I think. 

[KlaaZ]

Just now, KlaaZ said:

I think that's a fair assessment, although there are some other factors at play. The squad isn't bad but there are some serious imbalances, which are not helped by all of those injuries. I'm fairly sure we'll see a very different team with Maertens, Ricca and Misao back after the winter break, if only because it actually gives us more options. 

 

Hopefully, they'll send Opoku back to Leicester, promote Idumbo to the first team as a replacement for Nsingi and go look for a similar profile to Brunes. Add another decent midfielder and maybe a winger and we're ok, I think. 

Just to add to this, the one good news is that Kortrijk is in a far worse place than us. Not only are they also just not winning games, they're playing far worse and I don't think they have the financial muscle to do anything during the break.

[Bonanza]

53 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

I think that's a fair assessment, although there are some other factors at play. The squad isn't bad but there are some serious imbalances, which are not helped by all of those injuries. I'm fairly sure we'll see a very different team with Maertens, Ricca and Misao back after the winter break, if only because it actually gives us more options. 

 

Hopefully, they'll send Opoku back to Leicester, promote Idumbo to the first team as a replacement for Nsingi and go look for a similar profile to Brunes. Add another decent midfielder and maybe a winger and we're ok, I think. 

We just need to start winning games.

 

Yesterday's loss was a tough one. We should've been up 3-0 at the half, but it's clear we lack quality in front of goal. A win, along with last week's draw, could've been a big confidence boost and given us the opportunity to be out of the relegation spots before the winter break.

 

I really doubt the return of Maertens and Ricca will have a immediate impact. They've been out for so long, so it'll take time for them to reach their old/normal level. It's clear we need some new players in January. The problem is that a club like OHL can't really sign good players in January, because they're either too expensive or they're not match fit.