Rutten: "A lot had to change at Anderlecht"

INTERVIEWS For the first time since his resignation, Fred Rutten looks back on his time at Anderlecht. The Dutchman was surprised by a lot of things, but he does think he has achieved his goals. "I had one assignment: to get Play-Off 1. The quality for more was not there. And indeed: our football was not Anderlecht-worthy."


According to Rutten, he said after the winter training camp that doing better than place six would be very difficult. "My team was not stable," said Rutten. Anderlecht were among the first six in the nick of time. "I have not earned a beauty prize at all. Our football was not worthy of Anderlecht. But we made it."

"I was not the man who could change Anderlecht"

From his arrival, Rutten was surprised by many things and they annoyed him. He had to give his fingerprints, for example, to enter Neerpede. "But if I had not intervened, it would have lasted three days and I was technically unemployed," it sounds. The fact that information is leaking from all sides is also bothering the coach. "Why closed training sessions? The press wrote the next day in detail what we had done."

Rutten found the game at Standard most striking, which was stopped after incidents with the supporters. "I didn't know what I saw. I had to process that." The story goes that at that time players were having fun in the players tunnel and that Rutten wanted to punish them with a reference to the B-team. The coach does not want to say much about this, but this: "I am not used to being happy on a dark black evening of your club. I wanted to give a signal to get the dressing room in line." Michael Verschueren refused because the players involved represented too much capital. "That comes down to it," confirms Rutten.

According to Rutten, the latter played a role in his decision to give up in April. "I was not the person who could change Anderlecht and I think a lot had to change." Rutten thought, among other things, that the Anderlecht top had little experience in football. "Anderlecht are led by capable people, but they had not come into contact with the absolute football top." According to Rutten, it is then normal for mistakes to be made and they delay the process.

"I feel sorry for Kompany"

Anderlecht did not lose sight of Rutten. He still watches almost every game. "The current Anderlecht has more quality than last season," said Rutten. "I have a lot of respect for Kompany, but running an entire club is damn hard. I feel sorry for him, he wants the best for Anderlecht."

Rutten thinks the arrival of Frank Vercauteren is a good thing. The resignation of Arnesen much less. "He knows the material. I would have listened to him instead of firing him. Anderlecht will be back. It will only take time."