Football Season Guide

Genk were the outright champions last season, by far best team in Belgium throughout the campaign, but as expected title-winning manager Clement was convinced by a richer club to join them, plus 2 key players in Trossard and Malinovksy moved on in the summer. Added to that the March departure of Pozuelo and the recent selling of the best defender Aidoo and Genk’s squad doesn’t look as exciting as it was last term. The Blues appointed in charge experienced Felice Mazzu, has been overachieving with Charleroi for several years now, but on all his good credentials he is yet to win anything major in his managerial career. To fill the voids Mazzu got busy and at least 4 of the newly signed players are expected to become regular starters. Guesta comes from Colombia to bring stability to the defence, Hrosovsky and Hagi are promising inner midfielders that could eventual be playing key roles, while Nygren and Bongonda are explosive wingers that bring hope that the emblematic aggressive play down the flanks from last season will remain feature of the displays this year too. Genk are expected to be challenged by the fact that they have guaranteed place in the Champions League group stage, with those expected to be the most important games as long as the team stays in the competition. This is likely to see rotation used domestically and at least during the regular season Genk might be giving regular rest to some of their stars in league fixtures.