Ivan Leko before Standard – Charleroi: “We were under pressure from the first match”

A few weeks ago, Leko explained that statistics were an excuse to explain defeats. He took care to balance things out, not to mention the stats that would have suited him, but the Croatian coach, behind a confident speech, knows that the pressure will increase a notch against Charleroi. “But from the first match we were under pressure.”he replies, even if he admits: “The competition is very close, but the team that wins on Sunday will be able to look up. The one who is beaten will have to look down.”

Ngoy on the sidelines for a few weeks

To avoid looking behind him, Standard will therefore have to find the opening and the question, obviously, is how. Leko has no plans to change its system, a priori, even more so, he assures, because “we lack full-backs to play in a four-man defense (Editor’s note: Bolingoli is injured and Doumbia is barely coming back)”. Fossey, if he is restored, and Camara could nevertheless take the position, but the desire is to remain three behind and two in front, with Eckert Ayensa and Zeqiri.

How to better feed the two attackers? The answer is found in particular in the middle, where the Isaac Price paradox was a little more obvious this week. Triple scorer with Northern Ireland, against Bulgaria (5-0), he has not yet scored for Standard this season and has not given an assist. “I hope for a clickLeko slipped. A number 8 must be able to stand out with its stats. Against Westerlo, he had a good chance, but he hit it over the top. At Anderlecht, he gave away a few balls that could have ended in a goal.”

Olivier Renard: “This match could be a negative trigger for the loser”

But, each time, there was a lack of success, precision or finesse, like a team seeking a more assured balance in order to take less. Could Sotiris Alexandropoulos be this element capable of bringing something more? His 23 minutes against Anderlecht (his highest total since the start of the season) were appreciated by Leko, who made no secret that he could start the match against Charleroi.

But the Croatian technician also explained his management, in a way of justifying his choices, sometimes called into question, during the match: “We work with 15 players, in a match, or 10 + 5. And the five players who come in for the last half hour are sometimes more important than the ten who played the first hour.” But no Rouche substitute, until now, has managed to make the difference to change a match. The only winning choice, which brought a victory, was to keep Benjdida in the game against Beerschot (1-0).