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Good football, 67 percent possession, and still only one point. It sounds a bit like a record that lingers, because OH Leuven has been in the same boat for quite some time now. And so the balance after the World Cup break is a paltry six out of eighteen. “We urgently need to score points”, realizes Marc Brys.
Milan Augustine
If a good start is half done, OH Leuven was immediately doomed on Saturday. The first half hour was weak and the team from Leuven seemed impressed by STVV’s high pressure and power play. “The physical game and the dueling power of the opponent got us into trouble”, Marc Brys admitted afterwards. And so the Canaries immediately took the lead after less than ten minutes. Ouedraogo was almost a minute late for Okazaki, who served Hayashi for the 0-1. “That goal was preceded by a series of mistakes on our part. It should never fall,” said the OHL coach sharply.
The bad start of his team annoyed Brys. “It all starts with a good start,” he said after the game. “Then you put something down and make it clear what you want. We need more drive. You have to be sharp for each phase. This way you exclude stupid goals against and you also get a greater chance of scoring goals from the build-up.”
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After the weak first half hour, OHL came through. Even before the break there were chances for Tamari, Thorsteinsson, Schrijvers and Patris. But in line with the pattern of the past few weeks, they were not completed. After the break, the equalizer followed after a pushing error by Teixeira on Schrijvers. Thorsteinsson chased the 1-1 from the spot with an Icelandic cool in the bottom right corner. There were still chances for the 2-1, but they were not really great. The attempts of Nsingi, Tamari and twice Thorsteinsson were not extremely dangerous. And so, despite 67 percent possession, it remained with a point.
Stop whining
“We are dominant and give more than 500 passes, while STVV is in the 200, but we drop two points,” says Brys. “And that is the case once again. What is the meaning of compliments for our beautiful football if we don’t collect points? We need to stop whining and get points urgently. That should be the focus. The urge to win must be greater.”
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After the World Cup break, OHL has not yet booked a single home win. The fans – who turned up en masse on Saturday and numbered more than 7,000 – are not rewarded for their support. The people of Leuven barely count six out of eighteen. Of course you don’t make the play-offs that way, while that is just about a must given the budgets and the early elimination of the cup.
“It is a period in which everything is a bit disappointing. You can only turn that around by bringing even more than you usually do, but so far we have not been able to do that,” concludes Brys. One thing is certain: to stay in the race for the top eight, you absolutely have to win at red lantern Seraing on Saturday. If not, things will gradually start to rumble in Leuven.