2023-12-22 18:35:00
Five goals and two assists in 17 games. Some Pro League strikers would be happy to present such statistics. However, if there is one word that should sum up Wilfried Kanga’s first part of the season, it is frustration!
In 19 championship matches, we have lost count of the number of long balls thrown in his direction in the hope that the Ivorian can control it, take it and score. Frustration because, as he likes to repeat every time he appears in front of the press: “There is quality in this team and we must believe in ourselves. The problem is that we are inconsistent,” he said once more following the match in Mechelen without ever complaining regarding his fate. And yet, he would have enough given the number of long balls that are sent in his direction.
From his height of 1.89 meters and with his wingspan, Kanga knows how to manage this kind of ball and keep them to bring up the block. The problem is that the latter never comes back at the right time. How many times have we been able to see the gap between the Rouches attacker and the other offensive elements supposed to combine with him?
The plan in Mechelen was good but it quickly fell apart
Dedicated to the task, Kanga never gave up and always fought until the last minute. Often trapped offside, the attacker would legitimately like his calls to be more closely followed, or even anticipated, by his teammates. And for that, we must reduce the gaps on the ground. During the week, this is clearly the content of the message that the player, who never hides when things have to be said in front of the group or the coach, conveyed. As a result, Hoefkens modified his system with three number 10s behind Kanga: Price, Kawabe and Sowah. Unfortunately, the plan quickly fell apart following Bokadi’s exclusion.
As is often the case, Wilfried Kanga saw the long balloons passing by sent to his destination in Mechelen. ©PDV
As for the striker on loan from Hertha Berlin, we hope that the offensive animation will allow him to get the most out of his game. “For the moment, we are only using 40% of Wilfried’s qualities”, confides to us -one in his surroundings. Rather than relying on his size, the Standardmen should also use his depth more often as Steven Alzate was able to do at OHL and Anderlecht by launching the Ivorian deep. Result: two goals.
On Wednesday, once morest Sint-Truiden, Standard will no longer have a choice: it will have to take three points or risk getting bogged down in an unprecedented crisis. To achieve this, we will have to put pressure on the Trudonnaires. In Mechelen, with Emond at his side, Kanga felt less isolated and for 25 minutes, Standard took the Malinois by the throat. Enough to give Hoefkens ideas for Wednesday because with Emond and Kanga, he has two attackers with a similar mentality who will leave their lives on the pitch.
Internally, his involvement impresses
Internally, if you ask which Standardman is most involved, Wilfried Kanga’s name will often come up. By the own admission of many people at the club, we have never seen a player on loan without an option to buy be so determined. “I’m sick,” the player declared during the season. During the week, Kanga is often the first to arrive and the last to leave the training center.
Wilfried Kanga, who has five goals and two assists, never spares his mount. ©JIMMY BOLCINA
Concentrated on his game, the robust attacker gives little importance to what happens off the field to the point of skipping an authorized outing following one of the rare victories to rest for training the next day. Putting on overalls, Kanga knows what that means, and has done so for years.
When he was at Angers, the former sports director, Olivier Pickeu, was alerted by a club employee because a man had been seen at 1 a.m. in the heart of the weight room of the training center. It was Wilfried Kanga! A conquering state of mind which should help Standard to get back on its feet in the coming weeks.
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