Anderlecht will not have dragged along the way. Barely three days after formalizing the divorce with Vincent Kompany, he has just confirmed the arrival of his successor Felice Mazzu (56). An agreement was reached between all parties and at all levels this Saturday morning. Everything should be signed for Sunday or Monday at the latest.
Mazzu, despite a proposal from Lille which also tempted him, will sign an indefinite contract with Sporting and has been authorized to take part of his unionist staff with him. He will take video analyst Sandro Salamone, physical trainer Thibaut Meyer and goalkeeper coach Laurent Deraedt to Parc Astrid.
Priority of the mauve leaders and in particular of Wouter Vandenhaute, Felice Mazzu will however not be accompanied by the ex-Brugeois Karel Geraerts who will become the new T1 of the Union.
At the Union, even if we pretended in recent hours to still believe in an improbable reversal of the situation, we had understood from the start that the terms of the contract binding his successful trainer to Duden Park would not allow him to fight with neighboring Anderlecht.
Compared to what he earned at USG, Felice Mazzu will significantly improve his salary in the shadow of Saint-Guidon. The coach of the year is also offered a new opportunity to prove himself in a top club, two and a half years after his failure at Genk where he was dismissed after barely 21 games. And all this while staying in Belgium, close to his dad, as he wished.
Mazzu offered the Union a D1B title and an extraordinary season in the Pro League, only the Play-Offs system and the lack of efficiency against Bruges having deprived the Butte club of a 12th league title Belgium. But, by staying at Parc Duden, Charleroi’s former mentor would have had a lot more to lose than to gain. The pressure on his shoulders will be very strong in Anderlecht, a majority of Anderlecht supporters waiting for him at the turn after the departure of their icon Kompany. But he had to take up this challenge. After having trained Nivelles, Marchienne-au-Pont, CS Brainois, Tubize or White Sar Woluwe, among others, the Carolo is living a waking dream by joining the most successful club in Belgium. A club for the umpteenth time in full reconstruction and to which he has just given a tactical lesson four times in one season, but which he intends to put back at the top of Belgian football. As… the first Walloon coach in Anderlecht history.
Frederic Larsimont, Xavier Thirion
