Certain signs were not misleading, for regulars at Union Saint-Gilloise. Gestures of incomprehension, arms spread demonstratively to mark disagreements. And then there was what happened off the field and wasn’t captured by the cameras. Reproaches which clashed with what made the glue of a collective meticulously built over the months by the management.
The week following the defeat against Anderlecht, which was reduced to ten men, synonymous with zero out of nine, had marked a turning point in this regard. “We said things to each other before Bruges”, explained Cameron Puertas on Sunday after the second success in four days against Antwerp, as if to target the key moment in the awakening of the ex-leader. The undeserved defeat suffered against the Club could have broken the momentum, but it is clear two weeks later that the discussions held during this famous week bore fruit. “We saw a team reaction, even if we didn’t take the three points against the Club. We spare no effort, we all run together. The Union is above all a group. If we all run together from the first minute to the ninetieth minute, that will do it.”
Not everything has become rosy over the past two weeks, obviously. As everything was not during the classic phase and never is when a group has players with character and great ambitions. But since the fourth day, against Bruges, the signs of a return to a spirit of cohesion were there.
Like Moris, Mac Allister pushed Sadiki forward, after his mistake, to encourage him to move on. With success.
Some were strangely at ninety percent of their capabilities at the start of the playoffs. Lonely offensive choices, defensive runs that were no longer being done fully; covers which were not assured, as on the third goal of the Cercle, scored much too easily on the counter, or the second of Anderlecht, when Sardella played with Terho before crossing for an Amuzu who grilled the politeness of the defense “yellow and blue”. Things that we never saw again.
Who will finish ahead of whom in the event of a final tie between Union, Anderlecht and Bruges?
But when Sadiki had a hole on Sunday with a back header which turned into a decisive pass for Janssen, he was able to count on the support of Anthony Moris who directly put his head back upright. “It’s with these types of moments that I will grow. And the team helped me raise my head,” rightly underlined the defensive midfielder lined up on the right side, to replace the suspended Castro-Montes. “Of course, when we concede this type of goal, we tell ourselves that it comes from Noah who is not aligned in his usual position,” Blessin underlined Sunday evening in the press room. “But the way the team reacted was really good. ”
If Puertas is obviously a decisive leader in recent matches, it is together that the unionist eleven has stood up. Like 1-1. A model of collective action, playing on the move and concern to make oneself available to the ball carrier. Between the ball recovered by Machida on an Antwerp clearance and the goal scored by Nilsson, thirty-four seconds passed, during which the Unionists made eleven passes without any opponent being able to intercept the ball. The Union did not respond with a solo burst, but with an orchestral score.
Perhaps it is because they can rely on each other again that the people of Brussels have regained certainty. The legs no longer tremble. “We see what the victory in Antwerp gave us: confidence,” continued Blessin. “It was complicated at this level after the defeats,” Sadiki does not hide. “She has come back and we are more enterprising in what we do. Two weeks ago, we didn’t win after making a mistake like mine on the 0-1; which proves that we have more confidence to dare, even when we are off to a bad start.” All that remains is to not let it slip away now, and to act and react as a team, whatever happens in the coming weeks.
2024-04-30 11:49:00
#Cohesion #team #spirit #Union #force #SaintGilles
