Behavior: energy to be found
The scene is a classic of every Union match, but did not escape the numerous cameras present on Sunday: barely the match against Anderlecht ended, the president and the sporting director were chatting with their T1 on the pitch. Were they explaining to him what the team should have done better or were they remobilizing a man who was a little worn out? Maybe not, but it felt like it. Not sure it's the best image right after a defeat. Above all, the way in which the president took his coach by the shoulders, as if to wind a spring that no longer responded well, left one wondering.
Blessin's non-verbal behavior on the sidelines has not been the most positive in recent weeks. With his hands in his pockets, he barely celebrates his team's goals, as if his players' failures take precedence over what is successful. We feel challenged by the sudden breakdown of the machine.
His exit from arbitration and the media “unfair” towards the Union came as a surprise. Even in his club. If it was a way of putting pressure on the whistles, it also betrayed a certain nervousness. He will have to find the right balance between energy on the edge of the field and calm off it.
Management: get a few more percent
Blessin has always defended his players. “Don’t count on me to come here and take down Burgess.”, he said at a press conference after the stupid exclusion of the Englishman in Genk, even if he thought no less. He made no reproaches about Moris, author of an approximation in Anderlecht, or Amoura, transparent. We must even credit the coach, in this regard: the Algerian's current underperformance validates Blessin's choice to go little by little with his playing time, when he arrived, despite a player who displayed his bad mood when he wasn't number one.
T1 is disappointed to no longer recognize its collective. He had already said it to his players on the pitch after the defeat against Cercle. Where was the effort to recover on Bruges' third goal? Where was the second curtain after Terho faced Sardella? “Once we cashed in, we saw that the confidence was no longer there”, he said on Sunday. “We do not find the same quality as in the classic phase. The two defeats did not constitute a boost.” However, they should have pushed the Unionists to give more. “It's up to us to find our own boost by working hard on the lawn.” It's up to him to plant the seeds this week.
His choices: find the rabbit's foot
”We will have to do the right analysis in the coming days. It’s not going to be a pleasant week.” T1 spoke globally, but the remark applies to his choices. Let's be fair: his range of replacements is narrower than those of his Bruges or Anderlecht counterparts. But Terho's rise illustrates the current lack of success of his match coaching: on his first ball, the right side, going up on the left, had a hole. And Sardella made the difference, even if Amuzu should have been held better.
The choice to bring up Lazare, who has been in a slump since the CAN, rather than Rasmussen, was surprising. Like not restarting Mac Allister or keeping three central defenders, once Anderlecht is reduced to ten, rather than looking for excess numbers on the sides. By his own admission, his team did not understand that if Sykes had gone up front, they had to play on him. If Blessin had winning choices in the Cup semi-final against Bruges with Machida on the first leg and Sykes on the return leg, he has only managed the same move in the league twice in 2024… including one for nothing ( Eckert's goal against Cercle). Here too, he will have to bring something extra to his team during the match. Could it be time to relaunch some?
