Despite being the only team to have positive record against the new champions Club Brugge, three wins and just one defeat, Gent finished the season only in fourth place as their young squad struggled for consistency. Also injuries to some important players for most of the games after the winter break impacted the results.
The signs that this will be difficult season were there from early on as Gent won only one of their opening eight games to collapse in the bottom two and as a result after the 0:1 home defeat vs. Zulte Waregem at the end of September the team’s legendary coach Vanhaezebrouck was sacked.
From round 10 Yves Vanderhaeghe was appointed and he immediately changed the system from 3-4-2-1 to 4-1-4-1 and this brought revival for Gent. The new gaffer recorded 8 wins, 2 draws and just 1 defeat in his opening 11 games in charge. He also delivered impressive run of nine consecutive home wins stretching from October until February and this helped Gent to climb from the lower parts of the table to the top six.
Gent’s young squad, usually 8-9 of the starters were 24-years-old or younger played with great energy all campaign and wingers Kalu and Simon showed lots of promise. Yaremchuk was also very good and scored some vital goals, while since joining in January Janga became the regular leader of the attack. However, Gent’s strongest side all season was their midfield where Birger Verstraete, Esiti and Dejaegere were playing very well. Verstraete was particularly impressive as he replaced successfully Renato Neto, who spent the entire campaign out injured.
Gent’s defensive stability was badly affected in 2018 by the season-ending injury suffered by their best defender Mitrovic during the winter break and with one or two other defenders also missing games in the play-offs due to knocks or suspensions Gent really struggled to keep clean sheets when they had to replace two or even three of their preferred starters at the back.
Still solid run of 4 wins, 2 draws and just 4 defeats in the play-offs was enough to secure top four finish and European visa, which should be seen as a decent achievement for a squad so young and full of promise for the future.
