Football Season Guide

Club Brugge enjoyed a superb last season in which they were the early frontrunners in the table and maintained the pace until the end to finish as deserved champions, despite some wobbles towards the tail end of the season. Ivan Leko proved a major hit in his first season at Jan Breydel and his bold approach to switching to a three-man back-line in a side used to playing 4-3-3 proved effective at the end. Brugge are there starting the season as favourites for the title but will be certainly aware that their unconventional formation and much of the surprise factor will be lost now and more of a challenge awaits them. Moreover, the hopes of the fans are for a more meaningful run in the Champions League group stages this time around and the squad has been certainly beefed accordingly. Clinton Mata and Siebe Schrijvers are the two most impressive and quality additions to the squad as they played a key role for a good Genk side last season. Mata will bring real competition for Dion Cools on the right wing-back role while Schrijvers is a supremely talented attacking midfielder. Mats Rits is someone else to bolster midfield options. The goalkeeping position was a major weakness for Brugge last season and the hopes of the manager is that new signing, the promising Karlo Letica, proves the trust placed upon him. The Croat was even linked with Real Madrid this year and may well prove a diamond for the Black and Blues. The defence proved quite shallow and wobbly in some tough games in the spring and some new additions may well be required there too. The attacking looks quite good at the moment as Wesley Moraes and Abdoulay Diaby looked to have formed a great partnership in the spring and will seek to keep it going but Wesley is a target for some top European clubs this summer and the Black and Blue face a real challenge in keeping him.