KV Oostende did well to grab a point away against KRC Genk on matchday seven of the Belgian Pro League. The visitors opened the score very early with a goal from Cameron McGeehan in the third minute, but conceded just five minutes later after Paul Onuachu headed in a cross. In the second half it looked like KRC Genk was going to get the win after Onuachu scored a penalty, after a handball in the box. A couple of minutes later however Genk’s attacking midfielder Toma got sent off after he lost the ball and made a unnecessary foul. KV Oostende tried to hit a lot of crosses in the box in the final minutes of the game, which paid off in the 82nd minute as Makhtar Gueye headed in a cross from the right.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Arthur Theate
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 25/05/2000
- Current club: KV Oostende
- Career: KRC Genk (Y), Standard (Y), KV Oostende
- Position: Centre Back
- Secondary position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Arthur Theate played as the left sided centre back in KV Oostende’s four man defense and put in a really impressive performance. Theate mainly had to deal with Genk’s 6’7” tall striker Paul Onuachu, which certainly is not an easy task. It were some very interesting duels, but Theate came out on top mostly, winning almost all of the aerial duels with the striker. Arthur Theate seemed like a very strong centre back and was a real presence in the air standing at 6’3”. He only seemed to struggle in some duels against Genk’s winger, Ito who dribbled past him a couple of time and showed that Theate isn’t the fastest or most agile defender.
Tactically Theate seemed to do very well as well. He was never caught out of position and moved well depending on where the ball was. Theate was always looking around him very well, making sure no players were left unmarked or made any dangerous runs. He anticipated very well on multiple occasions, intercepting a couple of passes and covering well for left back Ndicka.
On the ball Theate barely made any errors, but he didn’t take too many risks either. He looked quite neat on the ball with good technique and remained very calm when KRC tried to press, which they didn’t do too often. Theate mostly played the ball to left back Ndicka or into the midfield towards D’Arpino. He played a couple of long balls into the middle towards Gueye, which were quite good but often lost them possession.
Rating – A2
It was a great game from Theate who really impressed me defensively. I’m not quite sure how good his ball-playing abilities are, but if he keeps this up he can surely make a nice move to a bigger club.
Makhtar Gueye
Player profile:
- Nationality: Senegalese
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 04/12/1997
- Current club: KV Oostende
- Career: US Gorée, AS Saint-Étienne, AS Nancy (L), KV Oostende
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Makhtar Gueye played as KV Oostende’s striker, but wasn’t that involved in this game that much. Gueye is a tall striker standing at 6’5” and seemed very strong as well. Still he lost way too many duels and didn’t do good enough holding up the ball for his team. There were a few moments where he showed his qualities though. In the third minute he got the ball in the right side of the box and played the ball back to Hjulsager who got a shot off on goal. The shot was saved by the goalkeeper, but the rebound was scored by McGeehan. In the 82nd minute Gueye saved a point for his team heading in a cross from Bataille.
Looking past these moments it was quite a poor performance from the striker. There were moments where he showed some good technique and made some good moves. He seemed to have a fine first touch and be quite technical for how tall he is, but then on the other side he just lost too many duels. Gueye only won two of his thirteen offensive duels and only four out of ten aerial duels. Gueye moved to the wings a couple of times, but was too static when KV Oostende had possession on Genk’s half, only trying to pick up the ball a couple of times. With the ball at his feet his decision making quite poor and surely is something he needs to work on.
Rating – B2
Gueye wasn’t involved enough, but didn’t get too many good passes either. If he is a little more dynamic and tries to pick up the ball more, like Onuachu did, he could become a good striker in the league.
Jelle Bataille
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 20/05/1999
- Current club: KV Oostende
- Career: KV Oostende
- Position: Right Back
- Secondary position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Jelle Bataille played as KV Oostende’s right back and didn’t do too well against KRC Genk. The defender made way too many errors and was very vulnerable on the right side. Bataille played as a very attacking fullback, providing the width on the right side when Oostende tried to attack. On paper Andrew Hjulsager would play as the right winger, but it was Bataille who would fill in that position. Bataille put in a lot of crosses, which mostly lacked a bit of quality. He often just put the ball in the box without looking to his teammates in the middle. In the 82nd minute Bataille finally had actual success with one of his crosses, as Gueye headed in the 2-2.
On the ball Bataille just made too many errors. He didn’t have too many options with the ball on the right side, but his passing was also not good enough against Genk. Technically he looked alright, but there is enough he can improve on. He made a couple of very poor touches one leading to a foul, which should’ve been a yellow card for him.
Defensively is where he looked the most vulnerable however. In the first half he was up against the young winger Luca Oyen. Bataille gave away way too much space and was often too late. He also didn’t pay enough attention to Oyen, who easily made some good runs behind Bataille. Bataille was quite poor in his ground duels, losing over half of them, and needed five fouls this game.
Rating – C
Bataille was very involved in the final third and created some danger with his crosses, but he didn’t seem to have a plan with them. Defensively he seemed quite poor and really needs to improve.
Théo Ndicka
Player profile:
- Nationality: French
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 20/04/2000
- Current club: KV Oostende
- Career: Olympique Lyonnais, Bourg-en-Bresse (L), KV Oostende
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Théo Ndicka played as the left back for KV Oostende and proved that letting your full backs lead the build up play isn’t a smart idea. KV Oostende’s centre backs often played in their full backs, who then struggled finding the next pass. Théo Ndicka actually did this very well not misplacing a single short pass this game. Besides this Ndicka didn’t really impress and I doubt he is ready for the Jupiler Pro League.
Defensively Ndicka seemed to struggle mostly. Standing at 5’7” Ndicka still has quite an athletic build. He had okay strength, but struggled a lot with KRC Genk’s right winger Ito who was a lot quicker and a lot more agile than Ndicka, who seemed quite slow this game. KRC Genk’s first goal came after a cross from the right after Genk’s full back Maehle easily beat Ndicka in a 1v1 duel. Ndicka defended very patiently, but Maehle played the ball past him and just ran past him on the other side beating him for pace. There were also a few moments where Ndicka would commit to a sliding tackle, when it would’ve been way smarter to just stay on his feet and follow his opponent.
Rating – D
Defensively Ndicka wasn’t good enough and he didn’t really force anything offensively either. For right now I think Ndicka doesn’t have the level yet to perform well in the Jupiler Pro League.