Football Season Guide

Only a year after barely surviving the Canaries claimed the bronze medals and deservedly so. Coach Vranaken made Sint-Truiden’s armada of Japanese players use relentless fast pace and this turned the team into a nightmare match for most opponents. Even dreamt about the title at some stage but a slight decline in the spring meant that the top 2 pulled away. Despite that Sint-Truiden were the best among the rest and they are now in Europe. After such a great season it was expected to bleed talent. After only a year in charge coach Vranaken moved on, several important players also left already. Top goalscorer Goto and star playmaker Yamamoto are no longer in the team. Frédéric De Meyer was given a huge trust of confidence. Assistant manager at the club for the past 2 years he is now given his first-ever head coaching job. Wingers Matsuzawa and Shinkawa are interesting players. Both hardly featured last term. Yet between them they amassed 11 goals and 15 assists for the reserves. Both are likely to play much more often this term. Bought Ishiwatari as a like-for-like replacement for Yamamoto in midfield. This is first stint outside Japan for the young player but back in J1 he was a regular starter even at age 18 so he has rich experience. Pupe’s stay was made permanent and he should feature a lot more in defence. Loosing Muja and Goto in attack might hurt. Soèllé Soèllé came from the second tier so he is not a proven goalscorer at this level. Also, Diouf arrived only last winter and has played little. Yet, these are the only 2 viable options to lead the attack at the minute. With Europe as a distraction and some key players leaving the Canaries might struggle this term. The attack got much weaker so unless a big new signing up front is made soon, Goto arrived in late August last term, Sint-Truiden’s scoring record might be much worse.