The RAAL faced with closed matches, can Maxime Pau become the key? “I have the qualities for this kind of match, but not only that”

But that could change. The style of play of Alexis Flips’ friend may indeed be perfectly suited to the situation that the RAAL could be forced to experience in the coming weeks. Like this Sunday in Beveren, where he got his fourth start of the season. As against the RWDM in closing 2024 (24 minutes of play): closed matches, where the ability to find the mouse hole to unblock situations will be the key to success. That’s good, it’s a bit like the range of No. 10 from Louviérois. At Freethiel, if he did not put his name on the statistics table, he was on the verge of doing so after a bright pass towards Gobitaka or on a free kick towards Gueulette.

“It’s true that I have the qualities for these kinds of matches, but I hope that all the matches are for mehe smiles. It was a topper as they say in Belgium. Closed perhaps, but we still had three or four opportunities. So there was a way to do something. Unfortunately, this did not work out in our favor. Me, I have fun when we win, whatever the game, whatever the appearance. I don’t have a preference.”

The system with a single attacker on Sunday could have led him to stand out even more. But the RAAL is no longer the team that rushes forward at all costs to establish its domination. The defeat, in the last seconds of play, at Zulte left its mark… but not only negative. We saw it in Beveren, the watchword against these quality opponents is to stay grouped behind.

“We have evolved in this direction, continue Pau. Especially defensively. I’ve seen the difference since I’ve been here. We are ready for all systems, we also work on the adversaries’ weaknesses. We have guidelines for all situations. In any case, we have quality and we annoy a lot of teams. Have we changed status? No, we remain promoted! On the other hand, we have matured in our way of managing matches. We want to win them all and, given our good position in the standings, we try not to make stupid mistakes that could harm us.”

It is in this sense that he does not hesitate to come back to defend. “It’s true that I had to defend, but nothing stopped me from moving forward. And then, from a personal point of view, you have to be able to develop. Every day I learn.”

The 24-year-old has therefore become more complete since his arrival two years ago, almost to the day, in Hainaut. 56 games later, the one who is one of the oldest of the pack hopes to make 2025 his year. “What I experienced this season, with an injury, is the life of a season. I had to wait to make my place, breathes the one who had never evolved as high as the D1B before this season. But I think I can reach yet another level. There is no secret, you have to work hard and hard, because it’s not going to fall from the sky. I don’t set a limit for myself in any case.”