Who else? Cameron Puertas and Anders Dreyer will take a lot of points in the first round of voting but will have no votes in the second. Because the first has gone to explore the petrodollars and the second has not been able to escape from the virtual statistical desert since the resumption in Anderlecht. We can also cite Kevin Denkey but we are already talking about places of honor.
And this season, no one is overtaking the competition. Tolu Arokodare scores a lot of goals and Mario Stroeykens scores a lot of points but there will be no tidal wave. Which gives Vanaken a lot of points for his elegance on the pitch. His teammates Tzolis and, to a lesser extent, Jashari will also leave the ballot box but we cannot imagine a fatal diversion of votes.
gullVanaken can be seen as the embodiment of Tedesco’s bad choices, between youthism and allergy to the Pro League.
Vanaken could also benefit from an unexpected helping hand: the vote of the anti-Domenico Tedesco, more and more numerous in the microcosm of Belgian football. The Bruges player can be seen as the embodiment of the coach’s bad choices, between youthfulness and an allergy to the Pro League.
Even if we continue to believe that Tedesco had a vision (we use the imperfect because his chances of survival are almost zero), we would have liked to see Vanaken when Kevin De Bruyne was not there. It probably remains the best thing we found in the shadow of KDB. And too bad for its legendary slowness.
Tedesco, it’s finite: the original sin is to have extended it before the Euro
If there are no surprises at the January gala, Vanaken will wear gold for the third time in his career (after 2018 and 2019). At 32, he would enter the pantheon of Belgian football for good, joining the duo Wilfried Van Moer and Jan Ceulemans with his collection, just behind Paul Van Himst’s four trophies.
Footballers from another age to reward the career of another age of Vanaken, he who will celebrate his ten years at Club Bruges next summer. We will never know what he could have achieved in a major competition but we should still have been informed of what he was capable of in a major tournament, he who only played one minute at Euro 2021 (against Finland). Unless Tedesco’s successor thinks of his golden feet in his quest for the American dream.
