Football Season Guide

Mechelen ended last season on a bit of a downer after some poor results, mostly likely owing to the fact that Wouter Vrancken already announced earlier that he was leaving and most of the squad have lost their motivation. Now a new era begins with Danny Buijs taking over as a new manager of the Malinwa and he is facing a steep challenge in trying to maintain the same level of competitiveness of recent years and keeping the team in the play-offs. The squad has been stripped of two key performers in Hugo Cuypers and Vinicius Souza but in fairness it has also been strengthened with a few interesting and promising additions. Julien Ngoy has the potential to become a prolific striker while Alessio Da Cruz is a bit of a wildcard and could really explode in the position behind the number 9, realising some of his undoubted potential. It will be interesting to see if players like Nicolas Storm and Rob Schoofs stick around for another season after being subject of real interest before while keeper Yannick Thoelen is a potential target for bigger clubs as well, with Gaetan Coucke waiting for a chance to impress in reserve. The overall picture for Mechelen still looks mostly underwhelming for this season as the squad will need more time to adapt to the demands of a new coach and may struggle early on, with a spot in lower mid-table their most likely outcome.