At the last training session for the second group match in the Conference League, Hein Vanhaezebrouck was again able to call on Vadis Odjidja, Laurent Depoitre, Nurio Fortuna, Matisse Samoise and Joseph Okumu who have been out of the running to a greater or lesser extent in recent weeks due to injuries. . Nevertheless, HVH immediately tempered expectations about their availability for the game against Famagusta.
“They haven’t completed many training sessions with the group,” said the Ghent coach. “We also have to wait for a possible response, but they are on the broad list of 22 names. In addition, you also have to look at where they are and what they can handle. You should always take risks into account. But it is also a matter of deliberation, who was out short or long and in which position you can deploy someone.”
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“Chakvetadze is out”
Caution therefore trumps, because risking new injuries is clearly out of the question for HVH: “You don’t normally bring someone who was out for a long time and you also give them a little more time. On Monday we had another practice match but it came too early for most of those guys to even play 20 or 30 minutes. You only take risks in exceptional circumstances, but we normally won’t take them tomorrow.”
Less good news came from Giorgi Chakvetadze: “Giorgi is out for tomorrow because he has problems with the hip flexor”, reported Vanhaezebrouck. “At first it didn’t seem so serious and Giorgi was even able to train with us, but today he had too much trouble and stayed inside. In the coming days we will have to monitor it further or see if he will get fit by Sunday.”
“Lemajic had to fit himself in”
In recent weeks, the absence of a few strong players has often been an obstacle for the Buffalos. In addition, too many players appeared to struggle with an unruly form curve, which did not benefit the Ghent game level: “I mainly look at the seniors, they must be the pioneers and form the backbone of a team”, according to the Ghent coach. , who protected his newcomers. “Darko Lemajic has actually had to fit in and has played a more important role in recent weeks than some of the seniors.”
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“Criticism not fair to Sven”
Whoever was not at the appointment last weekend during the home match against Cercle Brugge was ex-Golden Shoe Sven Kums. The midfielder was replaced after the break and the Ghent engine started almost immediately. “I talked to Sven about it. I did say that it was indeed better after his replacement, but three guys were replaced when Sven left the field. It was not just Sven Kums.”
“It is the three substitutions that happened simultaneously at the time that made the difference”, underlined HVH once again. “Most interventions were not even in his zone. But it was mainly because we created more danger offensively that the difference was so great. We were soon able to push over the left twice where Malede had his input and Lemajic’s income also had an effect, giving us more duel power. It wouldn’t be fair to say it only improved with Sven’s substitution.”
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“Castro-Montes images don’t lie”
Finally, he also recalled his statements of last Friday when he was quite critical about Alessio Castro-Montes’ performance and his substitution when visiting Anderlecht: “Meanwhile, I spoke with Alessio. He was indeed a bit shocked by my words, but the images don’t lie. Against Cercle he was better defensively, but at Ghent you have to perform on both aspects. If you ask Mata to take care of his defensive duties and he replies that his offensive role will be less, there will soon be another player in the squad.”
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