Football Season Guide

Kortrijk didn’t have the best of seasons last year and the top six ambitions of the Reds didn’t materialise after starting 2016 in very poor form. At least the positive thing was that after being appointed as interim coach Belhocine changed the formation to 3-5-2 and Kortrijk actually finished the campaign strongly. They were one of the better teams in Play-off II but for the ambitious and eccentric owner Than this is hardly enough. The Thai billionaire wants to see his team in Play-off I and the target set for Kortrijk this season is exactly that. A goalkeeper and four defenders are five of the six new arrivals and this suggests that the Reds will aim to be very hard to break at the back. They had the best defensive record in Belgium up until November last year, with one goal conceded in their first six home matches, and all indications suggest that again very few strikers will find it easy to shine against Kortrijk. The arrival of Kaminski will see him and Sifakis battling it hard for the right to start between the posts and they keep rotating in the friendlies so far which makes it hard to predict who will be given the trust in round 1. The departures of several important defenders and the money spent on Barbaric suggest that he is expected to be the new big name at the back, with Gigot and Boyer there to help. Three new full-backs were signed too and even when playing with five in midfield Kortrijk used to rely on full-backs for the wide positions as this made it very easy for them when they were put under pressure to drop back and actually form a back line of five defenders. The vastly important playmaker De Smet is hoping to remain much healthier this year and if he stays fit he will be the key factor in many matches with his ability to pick a teammate or score a goal. Veterans Pavlovic, De Mets and bright talents Mercier and Verstraete provide plenty of options for the inner midfield positions, while the wings also look well covered with all of Kage, D’Haene, Sarr and the newcomer Ouali good players. Striker Papazoglou should be benefiting a lot from their crossing abilities, although his cover Kis also showed good form in the pre-season after scoring four goals in five matches. The Reds have the squad and the depth to be amongst the contenders for Play-off I and this is the goal.