Besnik Hasi had bad days ahead after the defeat in Sint-Truiden. He bitterly regretted the absence of Rafik Belghali.
A year ago, it was on the Stayen synthetic that Rafik Belghali seriously injured his cruciate ligament. Yesterday, he had to return to the Canaries with Mechelen. But he wasn’t on the scoresheet.
The 22-year-old right-back was too apprehensive about returning to this very special pitch. So far, nothing unusual: Zinho Vanheusden also preferred not to take any risks, just like Nikola Storm, who was injured on the Knokke synthetic in the Cup last season.
But the way in which it happened deeply annoys Hasi: “He and his agent called management to say that he would prefer not to play. That doesn’t sit well with me. I find that very disloyal on the part of his agent and him. We have to move forward. If a player comes to me after two days of training on an artificial pitch saying that his knee hurts, there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I wonder. The club has been investing in him for two years. In return, we can expect something. I know, as a coach, I could have kept that to myself, but I won’t.” fumes Hasi, who feels betrayed.
The Albanian coach is quite fatalistic: “I can’t force someone to play. That’s life.” Will an explanation between the two men succeed in appeasing Besnik Hasi’s anger?
