Anderlecht strengthened mainly defensively last summer. At least, that’s what we thought: for a few games now, the defense has also been the focus of criticism…
The Debast-Vertonghen duo received a lot of praise last season. It was perhaps the most stable compartment of RSC Anderlecht. Debast made a few mistakes, but compensated with his technical qualities, his deep passes and his vision of the game. As for Vertonghen, he was the leader that Anderlecht badly needed.
Given that Vertonghen was clearly not going to play every game, Jesper Fredberg looked for an experienced man to replace him in case of injury or to deputise for him. It is therefore not surprising that he turned to a Dane, Mathias “Zanka” Jorgensen.
However, after several games, it can be said that he still cannot compete with the Red Devils’ record cap holder. But can we really expect more from a 34-year-old defender, free agent, who has not played much in the Premier League in the last three years?
Zanka seems confident (read here), but his performances are not up to par. His playmaking is slow and imprecise, too often he opts for the long game. As for his partner, Jan-Carlo Simic, he is young and promising, but will he be a Debast 2.0? Maybe not.
The Serbian is strong in duels, but if Anderlecht want to build from the back, they can’t count on Simic to make passes between the lines. The AC Milan transfer is clearly spending time in the gym, but that won’t help him get going again.
The best back-rower is… Colin Coosemans at the moment. Of course, no one could have predicted that Vertonghen would be out for several months, but the profiles recruited don’t really match Anderlecht’s DNA.
Jesper Fredberg was somewhat wrong about that. He must now hope that Jan Vertonghen will be back after the international break, and in good shape: the captain is missed on and off the pitch…
