Like deja vu. On March 20, it was in Kortrijk that Standard escaped mathematically, at the cost of a 0-1 victory over a goal from Selim Amallah. Five months later, the Rouches return to the Stade des Éperons d’or with the aim of saving… their start to the season.
With 4 points out of 15, Ronny Deila’s men are already under pressure. A little too much, according to the Norwegian coach. “There is too much stress. We have to relax”, he explains.“We have to accept who we are. The history of the club weighs on our shoulders and ambition stems from that, but we have to be realistic: we are far from the level of quality that the team had five years ago. or ten years. We are also far from being among the top five or six clubs in the country. We are in the process of rebuilding, we are trying to invest in good players and develop our young people. It is my responsibility to to win the team and I take that very seriously. Nobody is more disappointed than me and the players following a defeat, we work day and night. But for me, if we manage to fight for the top 8 this season, It will be good.”
For the T1 of the Rouches, the current team does not have the capacity to do more, especially outside, where it has been experiencing disappointment in recent months.“It’s hard to change that because we’re just not good enough. Our fans help us attack situations at home but to win away games you have to have a strong mentality. Today , you can’t show up to a game and tell yourself that everything is going to be fine for 90 minutes, but it’s not for lack of wanting it.’
Indirectly, we come back to another concern: that of the lack of leaders in the team.“But being a leader is first of all regarding believing in it and having confidence. When we talk regarding a leader, we are not talking regarding a player who speaks following a defeat. We are talking regarding someone who carries others in his enthusiasm. Barrett Laursen told me that the team communication was quite different from what he experienced in Germany, in Bielefeld. We need to talk more and show positive body language. needs soldiers, players who unite. We have players who are too inclined to come and do their job and not go any further. Cimirot is like that, Laifis too. Dussenne speaks a little more but a player like Amallah must take the lead. Bodart must speak more, Emond too. We must have players ready to do that.”
And that must be the case this Sunday to raise their heads following two defeats in a row.
