Anderlecht failed to defend their title and even missed out on top two finish and Champions League visa come the end of the season. This was direct consequence of the fact that the squad was very small from the start, the summer activity saw some key players leaving. This combined with the injury problems that gripped the team from very early on and saw at least 4-5 players missing every game from September onwards didn’t allow Purple and Whites to be as competitive as usual.
The title-winning coach Weiler was directly blamed for the poor summer transfer activity and after the champions opened the campaign with just two wins in the opening seven rounds he was sacked. Conveniently for Anderlecht immediately after their action Gent sacked Vanhaezebrouck and Purple and Whites appointed him in charge straight away.
Unfortunately for the new gaffer he couldn’t do anything to strengthen the squad until January and by the time of his appointment the injuries started hitting his team already. The best defender Mbodji spent several weeks out early in the season before hurting himself in December and not returning until the final day of the campaign. Sowah and Najar also sustained long-term injuries in September. Spajic was another one missing 12 games through injuries. On top of all that the hero from last season Teodorczyk had awful first part of the season – he scored just 4 goals in the opening 27 rounds – and the combination of all this saw Anderlecht trailing the top two sides come the winter break.
Starting 2018 with just one win in six and suffering humiliating exit of the Champions League in December after losing five of their six group stage matches exposed the small depth of the team. Before the season was over six different players from the U19 squad made their senior debuts.
The injury problems only increased past January, but at least Teodorczyk finally woke up and he scored 10 goals in his final 12 starts. This helped Anderlecht to establish in the top three just before the play-offs after recording three consecutive wins.
The 10 matches of the post-season were difficult for Purple and Whites as many of their players not used to be regulars every time looked tired and achieving just 5 wins, mixed with 5 defeats wasn’t enough to challenge the leaders, but at least proved enough to protect the top three finish.
