Football Season Guide

Mechelen used the summer months to reshape their attack and, with five strikers leaving the squad and four new signed in, it might take some time for Yellow & Reds before they start scoring a decent amount of goals. Coach Ferrera also had to part ways with bright centre-back Jordi Vanlerberghe but in defence, Mechelen seem to be blessed with plenty of options. Once again the main focus will be on solid defending and a very strong home record. The main new arrival is Rob Schoofs from KAA Gent and, after two years of sitting on the bench in frustration, he is hoping that he will find a new home for himself at Mechelen. Schoofs is tipped to be helping Mats Rits in the organisation of the attacks, while Andy Kawaya comes from Anderlecht in search of his first ever season of regular starts at senior level. He is an explosive left winger that together with Dimitris Kolovos, Yohan Croizet, Tim Matthys and Randall Leal will be competing for starts in the wide positions. As mentioned above, Mechelen are looking for fresh ideas in attack where the likely new regular starter as a target man is Nicklas Pedersen. The Dane is a very good goalscorer but for the past several years he has been plagued by regular injuries and it is questionable if his health will withstand the pressure of constant starts for an entire season. Stefan Drazic comes in as an obvious choice to replace him when needed but the Serbian has little experience and is not famous for being hugely prolific in front of goal. Last season Mechelen dramatically missed on Play-off I, with the main reason being the poor discipline of the squad. Coach Yannick Ferrera hopes that his defenders and aggressive midfielders will be timing their tackles much better this term and also that they can remain calm in heated situations.