GAMES Besnik Hasi has been hammering home the message for weeks: at Anderlecht, no one is expendable. “Starters or substitutes, everyone counts,” the coach invariably repeats. These are not empty words, as it turns out. In the decisive moments of matches, it is often the Purple & White's bench players who prove to be worth their weight in gold.
On Sunday evening, Tristan Degreef saved a point at the Bosuil against Antwerp. Earlier this season, there were crucial substitute appearances by Mihajlo Cvetkovic against Standard, Ibrahim Kanaté in La Louvière, and César Huerta at Dender, among others. The figures speak for themselves: six goals from substitutes have already earned Anderlecht seven extra points.
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Continue reading Compared to the competition, the purple and white are doing remarkably well. Club Brugge gets less return from its substitutes, STVV is at the same level, and only leader Union is doing better. The Brussels team has seen its substitutes score eleven times, good for eight points.
A striking detail: most of Anderlecht's goals from substitutes were scored away from home. That is no coincidence. Hasi himself admitted that his team often starts too weakly away from home. In nine away games, Anderlecht recorded only three wins and scored barely ten times. Four of those goals came from the bench.
Nevertheless, there is internal unity. Hasi has already used 26 players this season and has managed to keep everyone involved. Those who do not perform are replaced without hesitation, but are also given new opportunities. Degreef is a prime example of this. After a suspension and reduced training, he disappeared from view for a while, but fought his way back. “We are seeing the Tristan from the start of the season again,” was the verdict after Antwerp.
That collective attitude will be necessary, because the remaining away games look tough. Trips to Ghent, Genk, Standard, and Club Brugge, among others, still await. If Anderlecht wants to realize its ambitions, it will have to come from more than eleven names again. And in that story, Hasi's bench remains a decisive factor.
