On Monday, the club took the decision to end the collaboration with Felice Mazzù. ROBIN VELDMAN will temporarily take over as head coach of the first team. Together with Lior Refaelov, the coach took a seat in the press room ahead of the match against FCSB in the Conference League.
"This is a very particular situation, but I want to use all my time and energy together with the staff to help the first team. We have been working on that non-stop for 48 hours now. We need to regain that confidence in order to grow. 'I want to make our players and our fans smile again. Our supporters deserve that. We will do everything we can to make everyone who cares about Anderlecht smile again."
About a possible change in approach and system, the coach kept his cards close to his chest. "A lot has been said and written about the system. For me, it is much more about how we can get the best out of our players’ qualities and about how we can find the right connections. That is the key to getting results again. If I feel pressure? Most of all, I feel confident. I have received many encouraging messages and many positive signals about the support of our fans."
LIOR REFAELOV did not shy away from questions about the negative results in recent weeks. "Yes, we feel guilty about our performances. The season started well, in the league and with the qualification for this European group stage. But after that it went downhill. We, players, obviously bear a responsibility in that as well. It is too easy to say that the negative results are merely the responsibility of the coach. I myself feel embarrassed about this situation, to find RSCA so low in the table. I fully understand the frustration of the fans."
"We now have to take advantage of this new start to get back into a positive flow. We have a lot of quality in the group and we now have to use the ideas of Robin, the talent of our youth players and the experienced players to turn all of that into good football and results. Robin knows the club and the philosophy, so he definitely has that advantage. We will use his ideas for the two important games this week and hopefully there will be a turning point soon."
