Mario Stroeykens was once again (or rather should have been without a stupid goal conceded at the last second) the savior of RSC Anderlecht this Thursday in Riga. We feel that the versatile attacking midfielder has reached a milestone.
For a long time, we asked questions about Mario Stroeykens. Played in all offensive positions, he lacked the drive to be a real impact winger, the engine to be a relay or box-to-box midfielder, the pure dribbling and the genius to be a real No. 10, and the sense of goal to be a false 9 or a second attacker.
“Super Mario” did not improve in all these areas, but rather refined his style to become the player he is today: a versatile attacking midfielder, who creates a huge link between the midfield and the goal. attack, who does not count his efforts and has clearly developed a sense of goal and an ability to be in the right place which he lacked during his first months.
No wonder, of course, when you remember the age at which Stroeykens started playing for Anderlecht: he was not a finished product. However, we remain unable to tell you where its limits lie: can it continue to make exponential progress, or is its ceiling ultimately quite low? It will be up to foreign recruiters to decide whether or not to try it.
Stroyekens: between player management and Sporting’s needs
Still, at this moment, Mario Stroeykens is walking on water: everything is working out for him and the RSCA is taking full advantage of it. A “home” midfielder, quite elegant, decisive and with personality: what we no longer find in Yari Verschaeren for two seasons, we now see again in the one who has become, by force of circumstances, the one of its major competitors.
By making him blow at kick-off on Thursday, David Hubert proved that he was not going to “burn” his kid, that it is more important to manage over time than to wring out while he is in this situation. royal form. Unlike, for example, Anders Dreyer, who may well have been in overdrive last season, hence his “overuse” by Riemer.
Should we cash in on Stroeykens next summer or bet on a bigger amount in the future?
But Stroeykens is indeed the X factor of his team. Let’s give Colin’s credit, Coosemans is the man of the match in Riga, but if your goalkeeper stops everything and you don’t score goals, you won’t win any trophies. A big season for Anderlecht will require a big season for Stroeykens.
And after? It will then be… up to Olivier Renard to manage the situation. The RSCA has already missed out in recent years on outgoing transfers who will no longer be as juicy in the future: Francis Amuzu, Yari Verschaeren, and it remains to be seen whether Dreyer will one day still be worth as much as last summer. The few flops of the Fredberg era will be difficult to monetize. In other words: we must not miss the sale of Mario Stroeykens.
Should we take advantage of it (we are talking about an amount of 20 million hoped for by the club) from next summer? Betting on a Stroeykens who continues, perhaps becoming the Red Devil… or even the Golden Shoe, who knows? Or sell it before it becomes “too old” for a market that likes fresh flesh? Knowing when to sell is one of Renard’s strong points, a priori…
