If the score may give the impression that Anderlecht did not do badly and that Sporting even came close to carrying out the perfect hold-up, the topper in Bruges did not at all live up to expectations.
Several players like Yari Verschaeren and Leander Dendoncker took their place. But they are not the only ones to have suffered criticism, this is also the case for players playing in midfield.
No questioning
Mario Stroeykens performed well below his usual level and Théo Leoni also failed to prove what he is capable of. The latter, who quickly established himself as one of the public’s favorites, however did not understand why the coach withdrew him after an hour of play.
In addition to the yellow card he had already taken, Gert Verheyen sees other reasons sufficient to justify this replacement. “It’s incomprehensible to me that he would say that,” denounced the former Bruges resident in Extra Time. An analysis shared by Franky Van der Elst.
“An error of judgment”
“It’s an error in judging the match, not only the team’s performance, but also his own. Leoni often has the habit of gesticulating and that was the case again on Sunday,” he said . An analysis shared by Verheyen, who added: “He hardly scratched a single ball in the entire match.”
For Leoni as for the other players, we will therefore have to know how to question ourselves for the next meetings, including the one in the Belgian Cup this Thursday in Tubize or the meeting against Kortrijk before the next Europa League meeting against the Latvians of RFS .
It will also be necessary for Anderlecht officials to dot the “i”, whether it is the coach or the leaders. As Philippe Albert noted, things did not happen the same way in the time of Michel Verschueren and Roger Vanden Stock.
