Four out of nine is not the start of the competition that the Club Brugge family expected. And so the eyes turn for the first time (discreetly) towards the debuting head coach. Carl Hoefkens didn’t let the questions get under his skin, but he didn’t shy away from them either.
Don’t spin around the pot
It’s a determination you can’t get around. The competition is three games away for Club Brugge and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was just as often a key player for the national champion. Already in the opening quarter he was twice the savior against Zulte Waregem (see video).
However, according to his coach and goalkeeper, Club Brugge did not play badly for at least an hour, but Simon Mignolet did not care about the pot after the game.
“We hoped to fast-forward the match against Eupen with a resounding victory at home. It is so sad that we did not succeed in that. If you are Club Brugge, you should not look at the standings or the opponent. You just have to win at home and 9 to 9. We have to change that now.”
A vision that his trainer shares. Carl Hoefkens didn’t look for excuses. Not the argument that he didn’t have much time to get his vision into the team and not the transfer files on Jan Breydel. “70 minutes we played the football I want to see.”
“Offensively we were dominant and we won a lot of second balls. I was satisfied with that and I also indicated that during the break. Five or ten minutes after our goal we sank physically and Zulte Waregem increasingly found the free man.”
We have to build something, it just has to go hand in hand with results. The most important thing in football is getting three points.
“We could have collapsed after the 1-0 and played on the counter, but I absolutely do not want to do that at the moment,” Hoefkens said. “We have to build something, but it has to go together with results. That is my biggest frustration tonight.”
“The most important thing in football is getting three points and that is not happening at the moment. If you can’t win two games, there is pressure anyway.”
Busy! The word had fallen at the press conference. Hoefkens is on his honeymoon as head coach. To doubt is human. Do the current results leave doubts in the mind of the young trainer, one journalist wanted to know?
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself right now. I’m just trying to get everyone on the same page and then the results will come.”
Hoefkens will also have to count on his goalkeeper in the next few days. “My role now is to keep the peace,” Simon Mignolet said after the game.
“We should certainly not doubt our individual qualities. The only way to turn this situation around is with a win next week.”
Mbaye Leye: “A draw that feels like more”
Like Club Brugge, Zulte Waregem has started the competition with four out of nine, but the perception is of course completely different in that part of West Flanders after last year’s relegation battle.
“It was important for us to at least try to get something here, even if it was a match against the national champion,” said trainer Mbaye Leye. “We already had chances in the first half and that’s where we kept Club in the game.”
“In the second half, Club left a little more room on the flanks and I’m glad we took advantage of that because my players really worked like crazy.”
“In the end it turned out to be a draw, but to us this feels like more. It is a reference match for my group. Playing high at Club Brugge and daring to play football, that is not easy.”
