Football Season Guide

Sint-Truiden had a solid, if unimpressive, previous campaign. This was perfectly reflected during the regular season when the Canaries mixed 10 wins, 10 draws and 10 defeats to finish ninth. The play-off form remained stable but Sint-Truiden never really got in contention to win Play-off II. After the season ended coach Fink left, this after only 1 year in charge. The ex-Charlotte manager Christian Lattanzio is the new head coach. The Italian continued to use the familiar 3-4-2-1 formation in most matches this pre-season. Lattanzio had to rebuild the squad though as 5 regulars from last term left. Leo Kokubo was signed to become the new main goalkeeper after Suzuki was sold. Defenders Smets and Bocat, as well as attacking midfielders, Koita and Steuckers also left. Experienced centre-back Shogo Taniguchi was added and he’s expected to become a regular starter next to Van Helden and captain Godeau. Further up the pitch the new manager seems eager to trust the 20-year-old Delorge with an important role. He has played as an attacking midfielder in most friendlies this summer and accumulated 4 assists in this role. Another youngster Kahveh Zahiroleslam looks set to be the main spearhead in attack after becoming a regular starter last spring. The Canaries continue to rely on many Japanese players, this is understandable considering their owners are Japanese. With at least 3 of them constantly present on the pitch Sint-Truiden are unsurprisingly one of the best teams in Belgium when it comes to counter-pressing. The new coach also likes counter-pressing and these tactics should be used a lot. Sint-Truiden struggled to make it work against the top sides though so maybe a different approach for those matches against the best teams needs to be considered.