On May 13, Marc Wilmots will announce his ‘pre-selection’ of players who could go to Brazil. The final squad of 23 will be divulged to the public on June 2. Prior to the final group being announced, Belgium will play two friendlies, against Luxembourg and Sweden. After the announcement, Belgium will play Tunisia on June… Read More »
A year ago I wrote the following. “It’s been called the most exciting title race in Europe, but even those using that terminology agree that the Playoffs format falsifies the championship.” “The games between the top clubs come so thick and fast, it can be too much – financially – for the fans, too much… Read More »
Playoffs 1 If this was a horse race, the commentator would be saying that the leaders are bunching together approaching the halfway mark. There are just three points covering the first four teams and the second (Zulte Waregem) visits the third (Anderlecht) on the fourth day of the championship playoffs. This is one of three… Read More »
A week is a long time in the JPL Playoffs. Last week, the title was seen in the media as a two-horse race between Standard Liege and Club Brugge. This weekend both were beaten and now just five points cover the first four teams. On Friday, Zulte Waregem proved that they are almost unbeatable at… Read More »
Half of the Belgian squad play in the Premier League. Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany are arguably more famous than their counterparts in Roy Hodgson’s squad. But not every Belgian footballer is a household name and of those on the fringes of the national team, by far the most interesting is a player who’s better… Read More »
Playoffs 1 After the first weekend of the playoffs, the local media are already talking about a two-horse race for the championship: that’s Standard Liege and Club Brugge. Not good news for Anderlecht, who lost 1-0 at Sclessin thanks to a goal from Mehdi Carcela who later received a red card and later a two-match… Read More »
The infamous playoffs start this weekend. The top six (Standard Liege, Anderlecht, Racing Genk, Club Brugge, Lokeren and Zulte Waregem) will play each other twice in the next six weeks. The clubs start with half of the points gained in the “classic” season. So the clubs start as follows: Standard Liege 34 points, Club Brugge… Read More »
The Jupiler Pro League Playoffs have been controversial since their introduction in the 2009-2010 season. The system, it that’s a legitimate word, was introduced to make the league more financially viable – more games between the big clubs – but in its current format it falsifies the league and the vast majority of fans would… Read More »
Marc Wilmots has announced the Belgian squad to meet the Ivory Coast next week and there are no shocks. In keeping with previous squads, Wilmots is sticking with his trusted players regardless of whether they play regularly with their clubs. Of the 23-man squad, only one position is genuinely up for grabs – reserve right… Read More »
I wrote this back in October for World Soccer. It explains, to an extent, why it’s a season of transition for all of the bigger clubs in the Jupiler Pro League. Only Standard Liege have managed to avoid the charge of ‘under-performing’ this season and it’s likely that several of their top youngsters could move… Read More »