Four out of nine is not the start of the competition the Club Brugge family expected. Thus, attention turns for the first time (discreetly) towards the first coach. Karl Hofkins didn’t let questions erupt, but he wasn’t shy about them either.
Don’t revolve around fate
It’s a statement you can’t get around. The competition was three games away with Club Brugge and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was often a key player for the national champion. Already in the first quarter the savior was twice against Zolt Wargem (watch the video).
However, according to his coach and goalkeeper, Club Brugge did not play badly for at least an hour, but Simon Mignolet did not care about the pot after the match.
“We were hoping to speed up the match against Jobin with a landslide victory at home. It’s sad that we didn’t. If you’re Club Brugge, you shouldn’t look at the standings or the opponent. You just have to win at home and from 9 to 9. We have to change. That now.”
A vision shared by his coach. Karl Hofkins did not look for excuses. Not the argument that he didn’t have time to bring his vision into the team and not Jan Breydel’s file transfer. “70 minutes of playing the football I want to see.”
“Offensively we were in control and won a lot of second balls. I was satisfied with that and also pointed that out during the break. Five or ten minutes after our goal, we were physically sank and I was gone and the free man was increasingly found.”
We have to build something, that should go hand in hand with the results. The most important thing in football is to get three points.
“We could have collapsed after 1-0 and played over the counter, but I don’t want to do that right now,” Hofkins said. “We have to build something, but it has to go with the results. This is my biggest disappointment tonight.”
“The most important thing in football is to get three points and that’s not happening at the moment. If you can’t win two games, there is pressure anyway.”
Busy! Word fell at the press conference. Hoefkens is on his honeymoon as head coach. Doubt is human. Do the current results leave doubts in the mind of the young coach that a journalist wanted to know?
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself at the moment. I’m just trying to get everyone on the same line and then the results come in.”
Hofkins will also have to rely on his guard for the next few days. “My role now is to keep the peace,” Simon Mignolet said after the match.
“We should definitely not doubt our individual qualities. The only way to change this situation is to win next week.”
Mbaye Lee: ‘Draw more’
Like Club Brugge, Zulte Waregem started the competition with four out of nine, but the perception is of course quite different in that part of West Flanders after last year’s relegation battle.
“It was important for us to at least try to get something here, even if it was a match against the national champion,” said coach Mbaye Lee. “We really had chances in the first half and that’s where Klopp kept us in the game.”
“In the second half, the club left a little more space on the wings and I’m glad we took advantage of that because my players worked like crazy.”
“In the end it turned out to be a draw, but for us it seems more. It’s a reference match for my group. Playing at Club Brugge and daring to play football, it’s not easy.”
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