Club Brugge hosted a struggling St. Truiden side in an empty Jan Breydel stadium hoping to close the gap between shock run-away leaders Union Saint-Gilloise, with star performer Noa Lang being unavailable Club Brugge gaffer Alfred Schreuder named a starting 11 with 3 changes from their last encounter against rivals Cercle Brugge, the team lined up in a 3-5-2 formation. Initially the game started off with Club Brugge in the driving seat, peppering Daniel Schmidt’s net with efforts, the seldom found possession St. Truiden found never led to much with Jack Hendry and his defensive partners marshalling the opposing attack excellently throughout. The breakthrough came for Brugge in the 29th minute courtesy of Charles de Ketelaere who eventually buried the ball into the top left corner following calamitous defending from St. Truiden, de Ketelaere was in the right place at the right time and showed great instinctiveness and presence of mind to slot the ball home to give his side the advantage. Following the goal Brugge remained persistent and cruised their way through the game with little to no threat being offered by St. Truiden, eventually in the 64th minute Bas Dost latched onto a lofted ball and dinked the goalie to extend the advantage and truly put the game to bed.
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
Charles de Ketelaere
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 20
- Date of Birth: 10/03/2001
- Current Club: Club Brugge
- Career: Club Brugge
- Position: False 9/ Attacking Midfielder
- Preferred Foot: Left
Charles de Ketelaere was deployed as part of a strike partnership with veteran Bas Dost, however instead of poaching and sitting on the shoulder of the defender like his partner does Charles dropped a lot deeper during the game and often found himself in positions in the heart of the park, acting as somewhat of a false 9, dropping deep allowing him to utilise his impressive hold up play.
At the start of the game de Ketelaere was relatively quiet, not seeing much of the ball and being quite wasteful and erratic on the ball, attempting the difficult pass as opposed to playing it safe and recycling the ball. However de Ketelaere certainly grew into the game and became more and more influential as it progressed, he found himself in good positions and was on hand to dispatch the opening goal. He was aggressive and worked hard to be the first line of defence, often shutting down passing lanes or winning the ball back from St. Truiden defenders. After his goal Charles certainly sparked into life and was a real creative element for Club Brugge, linking up play well and taking the ball into his feet to hold-up play or draw a foul from the opposition, de Ketelaere was fouled a total of 4 times during the 90 minutes displaying his ball retention abilities and the ability to draw a foul to slow the tempo of the game down.
There were little negative aspects of his game on this occasion however he did overcomplicate some things and either held onto the ball for too long or played a slack pass to his teammate, however these aspects will be ironed out of his game as he progresses and matures.
Rating – A1
Charles de Ketelaere is a name of the majority of big clubs wish list with the Belgian youngster attracting attention in England from Leicester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. Additionally he garnered interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid, clearly denoting his ability and potential. I think he is ready to make the jump to a big PL team and establish himself as a household name in football and start week in week out.
Tajon Buchanan
- Nationality: Canadian
- Age: 22
- Date of Birth: 08/02/1999
- Current Club: Club Brugge
- Career: Sigma FC, New England Revolution, Club Brugge
- Position: Winger
- Preferred Foot: Right
Tajon Buchanan made his debut for Club Brugge and certainly didn’t disappoint, instantly he was bright and creative, showing a willingness to receive the ball and drive at his fullback Tajon was brilliant at getting his team up the park and fashioning an opening with a skill move, (a step over more often than not) or showcasing a burst of pace to bypass the defender. Tajon showed his work rates too, often having to drop back into defence and play almost as a wingback, motoring up and down the left hand flank seamlessly transitioning from defence to attack.
Tajon struggled slightly in the defensive aspect of the game yet was always there and stood up to be counted everytime, he did not shy away from the physical aspect of the game either. He displayed a good awareness of where to be on the pitch as he always availed himself for a ball and make intelligent runs to split defensive lines, either opening up a passing lane for himself or dragging a defender out of position to manufacture space for his teammates to exploit.
Overall Buchanan can be more than happy with this debut as he put on a show for all Club Brugge fans and gave them a taster of what to expect from him.
Rating – B1