About two months ago, David Hubert made his debut as Union coach at the Dudenpark against Charleroi. The Carolos will again be Union’s opponent on Sunday, but a lot has already happened in those two months. “I don’t even know how many matches we have played in those two months,” said Hubert.
Let us help you: thirteen. “It has certainly taught me to get to know the club quickly. As a coach, it is interesting to evolve at such a rhythm. Normally you have weeks to adapt, but now I have been thrown into the bath and have had to make choices quickly. That is a big challenge. It requires a lot of energy, concentration and work, but all the people here help enormously. It is extremely educational.”
Sad defeat
A lot has indeed happened in those two months. This was also the case last Tuesday, when Union narrowly lost to Marseille in the Champions League. Union’s equalizer was disallowed twice at the end. Mac Allister’s was especially close. “The feeling after such a defeat is double, because there was much more to it,” the 37-year-old coach looks back on the intense match.
COMMENTS. Kevin Mac Allister expresses his dissatisfaction after a disallowed goal: “This is not the football we love”
“Everyone around you says that we deserved more, or that the offside goals were very narrow, but that does not alter the fact that you are very disappointed. In itself that is a good sign, a very good sign even. We are disappointed that we narrowly lost to Marseille in the Champions League, that we just missed out on a point against Atlético and that we only have six points in total. Of course we want more. If you perform like Tuesday, but do not score any points, it is very disappointing. We have to build on that, on that frustration and disappointment. We have to use that as fuel to further confirm and link those good performances to a result.”
System change
That result must come against Charleroi. After a defeat against Anderlecht and a draw against Ghent, it is time to take full advantage in the competition again. Although the match against Charleroi can still be treacherous: trainer De Mil left the Carolos for Ghent this week. “But that doesn’t have much impact on us,” says Hubert. “Of course it may be the case that a potential new coach will already be in the stands on Sunday and that the players will therefore want to show themselves extra, but in the end they have been doing that for a full season. We just have to look at ourselves. We are prepared, and if there is a system change at Charleroi, we can handle that too. We have already played against enough different systems. We expect a difficult match and will have to be at our best to get the three points.”
