With a big 4-1 win 8th placed KRC Genk moved three points closer to 7th placed KV Mechelen. Bernd Storck’s Genk lined up in a 4-2-3-1 against Mechelen who started in a very similar situation. Things looked great for the home side who were up 1-0 by halftime and saw their opponents receive a yellow card. KV Mechelen didn’t go down without a fight though and just thirty seconds in the first half they tied up the score. Genk kept dominating the game and scored three more goals of their own, comfortably winning the game.
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
Mike Trésor Ndayishimiye
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian/Burundian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 28/05/1999
- Current Club: KRC Genk
- Career: RSC Anderlecht (Y), NEC Nijmegen, Willem II, KRC Genk
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Secondary position: Left Wing, Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
After two good seasons with Willem II in the Dutch Eredivisie Mike Trésor joined KRC Genk this summer for around 3 million euros. The Belgian Under-21 international has some tough competition for the ‘number 10’ spot at Genk with Kristian Thorstvedt and Carel Eiting, not starting in as many matches as he probably hoped. In the last few matches Bernd Storck chose for Trésor and against Mechelen the 22-year-old showed his manager why he should start. He started on his favoured position, as an attacking midfielder. Very much like when he played for Willem II he often looked like a second striker, pressing very high up the pitch. In possession he often roamed around the pitch positioning himself quite wide on the left or right side, he had a lot more freedom to do this after Mechelen got a player sent off. As I noted in my previous report on him; The 5’8” tall midfielder isn’t a very strong player, but still hard to get off the ball with his great agility, fast turning speed and low center of gravity.
After five minutes Trésor got the ball from Paul Onuachu around the halfway line in a counter-attack. He dribbled forward with the ball, with two defenders in front of him, and played a lovely through ball to Luca Oyen on the left. Oyen finished the ball from a difficult angle giving Genk the lead. Twenty minutes later he got the ball from a Mechelen player in midfield. This time he played another great through ball, with his weaker left foot, towards Paul Onuachu who got taken down, resulting in a red card for Thibault Peyre.
Trésor is technically a fantastic footballer and has a great understanding of the game. He has a great first touch and likes to take on opponents who try to press him. Against Mechelen, he had some great dribbles which created a lot of space. The Belgian also has phases in games where he seems to disappear for a bit and where he makes some sloppy mistakes. Against Mechelen this seemed to be just around five minutes with a sequence where he had a first touch followed by a very poor corner. His passing looked very good this match. He played a lot of great forward passes and some very nice through balls.
Rating – A2
Mike Trésor is a great talent and showed why he should always be starting for KRC Genk.
Luca Oyen
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 14/03/2003
- Current club: KRC Genk
- Career: KRC Genk
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Secondary position: Left Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Luca Oyen got his third start of the season for KRC Genk this season against KV Mechelen. The 18-year-old played as left winger and really showed at times why he is rated so highly. After five minutes Oyen opened the score for his team. After a great through pass from Mike Trésor, Luca Oyen finished with his weaker left foot from a very tight angle.
His physical side is probably where Oyen still has most work to do. The youngster is 5’8” with quite a lean build still. But since he is just 18 years old he still has plenty of time to build muscle mass. Against Mechelen he did fairly well in his duels still. He showed that he has great balance and didn’t get pushed off the ball too easily. Oyen showed to have good top speed while sprinting, but I felt like he maybe missed some explosiveness. This hindered him in some offensive duels where he tried to take on his opponent with the ball.
Even though he started with a quick goal Oyen had quite a slow start. There was a moment where he didn’t mark an opponent defensively and a bit later he played a pass back which was just too short, which didn’t create any danger after a good tackle from Lucumí. He really seemed to grow into the game and especially in the second half, he showed some really good things. Oyen is right-footed but has a really strong left foot, which he showcased with his goal of course. On the left he a real threat being able to take on his opponent by cutting inside or going around him for a cross with his left foot. He also did well dropping back to collect the ball, where he looked very press resistant. One moment where this really showed was in the second half where he got the ball on his own half. He held off his opponent well, knocked the ball past his second opponent and then found the forward pass.
Rating – A2
Luca Oyen is one of the bigger talents of Belgium’s next generation. I’m curious to see more of him and I hope he gets a lot more minutes this season.
Ángelo Preciado
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 18/02/1998
- Current Club: KRC Genk
- Career: CD América de Quito (Y), Independiente del Valle, KRC Genk
- Position: Right Back
- Secondary Position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Angelo Preciado played as right back against KV Mechelen and got acres of space after Peyre’s red card. The right back was basically a second right winger being on his opponents’ half more than on his own half. Preciado saw a lot of the ball and was involved in a lot of dangerous attacks on the right. The Ecuadorian defender isn’t the tallest standing at 5’8”, but did very well in his defensive duels. He used his body very well and paired this with great aggression. I don’t think he lost a single defensive duel throughout the whole match.
On the ball Preciado also did fine. He was a constant threat on the right, making smart under- or overlapping runs and wasn’t scared to take on his opponent. He didn’t seem to use his left foot that often and almost only tried to beat his opponent around the outside, but with his great acceleration, he actually made this work pretty well. Preciado put in a lot of crosses this match but didn’t really create a lot with them. Most of them weren’t very good and a few of them just went over the backline for a goal kick. He did a lot better looking for short combinations with right-winger Ito or Mike Trésor, looking for one-two passes. Technically Preciado isn’t a fantastic player. He has decent dribbling even when sprinting and can change direction with the ball fairly quick but lacks some composure in smaller spaces. I can see him have a hard time when playing against a team that would often put pressure on him. This match it wasn’t really an issue though, since he had a lot of space most of the times.
Rating – B1
Preciado was a constant threat on the right-hand side but also showed a few weaknesses which could hinder him against better teams.