Five to twelve after 4 to 12: Now it’s also for Vincent Komp…

In the standings, Anderlecht is on the edge of the top eight, five points behind leaders Union and Club Brugge. Not a disaster, but the fact is that with 17 out of 33, Purple & White are calculating three points less than last season after 11 games. After that, the Champions League qualifiers were not reached until the last day of play. Aspirations are higher this year. “I was expecting we’d have some hidden difficulties at first,” said Kompany. By this the coach means that RSCA will once again have to match with many new players. However, the problem again lies in volatility. Sometimes Anderlecht is very good, like against Club Brugge, and seems ready to fight for the top three. But then the people of Brussels can disappoint themselves again as happened at STVV last week (2-2). However, more experienced pawns were attracted to become a more stable club. “It’s a fluctuation in results, not performance,” Kompany continues. “For Sint-Truiden, our last poor performance comes back to the match in Vitesse. In other duels, like in Genk, we were good, but we forgot to reward ourselves.”

Such a scenario also happened against Ostend, as a result of which Purple & White are now in a poor round of 4 out of 12. Then suddenly it became very important to beat Beerschot. With 2 out of 33, FC Antwerp is one of the lowest performing clubs in Europe. They compete with Luxembourg’s Rodang (1 out of 27), Turkish Rizespor (1 out of 27), Romanian Academia Clinica (3 out of 36) and Spain’s Getafe (2 out of 27). Nobody wants to be the monster who goes to the boat first against Berchot. Certainly not Kompany. “After our bad day against STVV, we are mostly hungry. We play at home and want to start with intensity and speed. It is all independent of the opponent’s condition, but we won’t underestimate Beerschot either. We need to be consistent in our performance.”

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After an early European elimination, Anderlecht must maintain the momentum in the standings. We might expect some substitutions in the starting lineup, but above all it’s time to win again. What’s more, because it’s an anniversary match for Kompany. The 35-year-old has been sitting on the bench for the 50th time as Anderlecht coach. After his first 49 matches, the counter has 18 wins, 21 draws and 10 defeats. The team scored 76 goals, but also received 56 goals. So only 36.7 per cent of matches were won. How do you rate Kompany? He concludes by saying: “It is too early to judge.” “I became a coach in one of the most difficult periods in the history of Anderlecht. Last season we played for almost the youngest team in Belgium and the best players are still being sold. Club Brugge once played with several youngsters and lost 6-1 to Ghent. Standard launches youngsters, But it has an impact. We did it every week last season. It’s different now being a coach in Anderlecht than it was in my time as a player.”

True, but in a tie with KVO and STVV you will not get there. Kompany should win against Berchot.