Mechelen must fear punishment against Club

A bird for the cat. The chance of a point win is not very high for KV Mechelen against Club Brugge. Wouter Vrancken’s team has to contend with several (extra) sporting concerns, while at Club everything is going fast.

CONTRADICTION

Keep the core and strengthen it sensitively. The sporting plan was promising on paper, but KV Mechelen is currently unable to compete with the same high performance and results as in the previous season. Then Malinwa fought for a playoff 1 ticket until the last day of the regular season, today the club is in the bottom echelons of the Jupiler Pro League. Despite all the good will and intentions.

Except for Arjan Swinkels and Jules Van Cleemput, coach Wouter Vrancken did not see any noteworthy players leaving the door in the off-season. In fact, the incoming violence with Kerim Mrabti, Rocky Bushiri, Gaëtan Coucke, Mryan Shved and Victor Wernersson are all qualitative reinforcements. Moreover, Sandy Walsh and Steven Defour are also coming soon. But KV has other concerns. Many concerns.

IN LOCKDOWN

First of all in the field of corona infections. Last week, the club recorded no fewer than nine positive tests, which meant that the match against KAS Eupen was postponed to a later date. That number of infections then increased to thirteen infections, if we also include the broad framework of the club. Consequently, a mini-lockdown took place behind the Kazerne: all training sessions were canceled, the stadium doors closed, the fanshop and everyone immediately sent home.

The effect of these in-depth interventions was beneficial. Malinois received the results of the latest corona tests on Thursday and it turned out that ‘only’ seven players were infected. That number is enough to postpone the league game against Club Brugge, which was also the intention of KV, but the busy Bruges calendar does not allow a suspension. Moreover, the corona protocol only applies to players who were already on the match sheet this season, and two positive cases of Victor Wernersson and Bas Van den Eynden are not included.

PENNINCKX

The corona virus makes Mechelen toss and turn, and it is also very restless in the boardroom. The long-awaited special shareholders’ meeting was postponed for an indefinite period, with the main subject of the search for a solution regarding the shares of main shareholder Dieter Penninckx, who has an interest in the club of no less than 71.2 percent. It is certainly a very complex and complicated assignment to sell it, despite the fact that there are now several interested parties to become the main shareholder at Malinwa.

Penninckx, along with four other people, was suspected in the investigation into fraud at the fashion group FNG. However, according to the public prosecutor’s office, the football club KV Mechelen would not be part of the investigation. Despite this, Penninckx and Malinwa are looking for a solution to sell its 71.2 percent of shares, but according to Gazet van Antwerpen, the question is whether those shares can be sold without risk. A creditor could lay a claim on those shares.

CAREFUL MALINWA

And then of course we have to talk about the sporting situation at KV Mechelen. Although the game picture is not immediately dramatic, the Maneblussers only count 7 points out of 27 for the time being. It is, however, worrying how difficult Malinwa finds the way to the goal: only last-minute Mouscron has even fewer goals scored than KV. Mechelen was able to score 10 pieces in the meantime, which comes down to a meager average of just over one goal per match. That average was quite a bit higher last season with almost one and a half goals per game, a frequency with which KV Mechelen occupied sixth place at the time.

KV Mechelen in the Jupiler Pro League

Season: goals per 90 ‘

2020-2021: 1,04 goal

2019-2020: 1,48 goal

And then things go a lot better on the offensive at Club Brugge: the current Belgian national champion has the second best attack in the country – only Beerschot VA scores even more regularly. In fact, Club significantly boosted their goal average from last season in the current year. Moreover, Blauw-Zwart has the second best defense in the Jupiler Pro League, where Sporting Charleroi is the least passed defense for the time being.

Club Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League

Season: goals per 90 ‘

2020-2021: 1,88 goal

2019-2020: 2,16 goal

THE BRUGES MACHINE

KV Mechelen also has only one player who could score at least once in the current season. Remarkably, Aster Vranckx is the current club top scorer with three hits, while forwards Igor de Camargo, William Togui and Gustav Engvall find their way to the goal remarkably difficult. The contrast in the goals scored between Club Brugge and KV Mechelen is therefore very great, where the West-Flemish have several players who can score on a regular basis. In the respective joint top five of Club and Malinwa, the ranking is predominantly colored Blue and Black.

Club Brugge and KV Mechelen in the Jupiler Pro League

Goals per 90 ‘

0,89 Michael Krmencik (Club Brugge)

0.78 Noa Lang (Club Brugge)

0.61 Krépin Diatta (Club Brugge)

0.47 Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)

0.43 Aster Vranckx (KV Mechelen)

Because of the seven infected players, KV Mechelen will not play at full strength against Club Brugge on Saturday, and that will probably also be felt. For example, club top scorer Aster Vranckx will certainly not be present, the only Malinois player who could score more than one goal in the current season – and the question is who else can provide the goals. Moreover, Club Brugge finds its way to the goal very easily, and the danger comes from all sides with several players who can score their goal. In addition, Club is in a positive flow, and Philippe Clement will no longer tolerate a loss of points in the competition after a previous strong European performance. KV Mechelen should therefore be warned…