After training for a fortnight, Sporting de Charleroi took a step forward in its preparation with a first friendly. Facing RAEC Mons, playing two levels lower and who had resumed this week just for the occasion, the Zèbres won 0-3 thanks to a goal from Zagence and a double from Stulic while Guiagon missed a penalty at the start of the 2nd period.
A month before the competition resumes, the Carolos (with the new players and the youngsters) did the job even though they had a session just before the match. Next meeting in a few days against Genk, but behind closed doors.
guillementThe team is not yet complete but I don’t want to create eleven guys yet.
Rik De Mil, what are your feelings about this first meeting?
He’s pretty good. It was really hard the last two weeks and the training just before wasn’t light. So yes, in this match, we saw technical errors, the positions were not great and we had a lack of experience with young players. But in the state of mind, we win, we score three goals and we keep zero. So I’m happy.
It is true that until the end, they insisted on keeping the zero. However, it was anecdotal.
This remains important. I want a team that presses high and creates chances but also remains well structured and well organized to keep zero. This Friday, we saw a lot of things to learn for the next stage.
For this first match, was he the ideal opponent?
Yes, because it’s a whole package. There was the stadium, the supporters (Editor’s note: 1500) and the quality in front. They’re a very good opponent. Not the one against whom you can win 9-0 without much tempo. That would be too easy. We still worked for 90 minutes.
Mixing young and experienced people, was that intentional?
Yes, because I don’t want to create a typical eleven yet. I want a group first. But in the fatigue, we can also see the mentality of the players. For example, the experienced players against the youngsters. I wanted to be able to observe the way they reacted.
Now, are you going to step it up a notch?
Next week will be very tough in any case. This Friday, what they showed in terms of intensity was the maximum at this moment in the preparation. But it will not be that of the competition. They started out feeling tired but I wanted to see their reaction to that kind of discomfort.
Are you going to continue to focus on physical appearance?
It will still be quite good physically next week. We will also obviously work on tactics a little but after these intense days, we will start to decrease little by little. During the training camp (in the Netherlands just before the competition), it will be calmer and more tactical.
You have worked a lot physically and now?
Another very physical week. We also work a little on tactics but it will be a very intense week and little by little we will decrease. And during the training camp, it will be calmer and more tactical.
Is this match a good benchmark for the physique?
Yes, but I knew that physically, it was not yet the strongest team. We’re just getting started. We know it will be better if we work like this all year round. Physical appearance is important but I also want to play football. But for that, to press high and be able to kill the match at the end, you need physicality.
This season, you are going on training camp just before the first match of the season in JPL.
It’s different. Normally, an internship is mainly for physical work, but the team is not yet complete today. Leaving now with a large part missing is not much use. For these first two weeks, it was good and interesting. It also allowed me to focus on the Academy. For a quality internship, you need at least 80% of the group. Knowing that the remaining 20% will arrive in August (laughs). But I know that I have to be patient (laughs).
