From European qualification to the bottom four: What has gone wrong at Cercle Brugge this season?

Last season, Cercle Brugge were one of the stories of the Belgian Pro League. The young side under Miron Muslic battled their way to European qualification playing a high tempo pressing game that was incredibly effective. Everyone knew that the next season’s task of balancing both continental and domestic football would be difficult, but not many saw the green and black half of Brugge finishing in the bottom four. So, how did this happen?

Cercle over the past few years have been fantastic at replacing key players. Their scouting department is second to none in finding budget options that go on to become key players for the side. However, over the summer, they lost two key players that they just didn’t appear to replace. The first was midfielder Leandro Lopez. The former Hull City man then spent months without a club before joining Gent on a free around December, a strange situation given he had been one of the best defensive midfielders in the league for a few years. Three central midfielders were signed in the summer; Erick Nunes, Bruninho and Lawrence Agyekum. None of them have been able to adequately replace Lopes or show his level of consistency.

At the back, the side lost its best central defender in Jesper Daland. This happened late in the transfer window, and the side were unable to bring in a replacement. The departure was even more difficult when Boris Popovic also left. In January the side brought in Lucas Perrin, someone who would have been a welcome addition a few months prior.

In truth, the side actually did well in Europe, qualifying for the next round and putting in some strong performances. However, things started to derail when Muslic was unable to play key players in a Conference League clash with Vikingur from Iceland. Cercle lost a game that on paper they should have won comfortably, with Muslic and the travelling fans rightly angry about being unable to field the best possible team they had. This came because of fears around domestic performances, and resulted in Muslic being fired a few months later when the side lost to bottom of the table Beerschot.

Ferdinand Feldhoffer replaced the popular Muslic, and almost immediately had to work out how to get the side scoring goals. They had been so reliant on Kevin Denkey, who scored 15 goals in 28 games before leaving to join Cincinnati in the MLS. He was not replaced and with 10 league goals remains the sides top scorer this season in the league. Behind him is captain Thibo Somers with three, and another winter departee in Kazeem Olaigbe also on three. The club ended the regular season with just 29 goals in 30 games, somehow only the fourth worst attack in the Pro League.

Now, Cercle must avoid folding completely during the play-offs. They start with a one point lead over Sint Truiden and it would be a real shame to see what has been a very successful project over the past few seasons disintegrate in such a manner as to see the side relegated. The fans will expect the club to finish top of the mini-group, with the summer then being used to ensure that they do not suffer a similar season next time around.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson

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