Cyriel Dessers is now leading the strike force of Genk as fellow Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu struggles to regain his red-hot form of last season.
Dessers has so far provided two assists in the new season in Belgium, but should he be disappointed that he has yet to score a goal?
BIG CHANCE FOR DESSERS
It was a bit of a shock when KRC Genk top striker Paul Onuachu was missing on the matchday squad against KV Oostende and that naturally led to many questions.
“Paul is a little less in his own skin”, Genk coach John van den Brom explained Friday evening the remarkable absence of his top scorer in front of the cameras of Eleven Sports.
“I haven’t seen him smile this week, so you know it’s not right.”
Because Paul Ouachu is not feeling well, John van den Brom approached him on Thursday.
“He agreed with me that he lacks focus and that he was not ready to play. But that could be completely different on Tuesday,” the coach further said.
“In addition, as a coach I also have to be fair to all my players.”
The replacement for Onuachu against KV Oostende was no surprise: Cyriel Dessers was allowed to prove himself once again as a starter.
2 ASSISTS
Dessers was already the great saviour for KRC Genk on the previous match day against Standard Liege, when he played an important role as a substitute for Onuachu in the late equalizer via Théo Bongonda.
“Ask the coach, but I think I have shown that Genk can trust me when Paul leaves,” Dessers said at the time.
One week later, Dessers got another chance against KV Oostende to replace Onuachu and this time it was from the start of the game.
Dessers faced the defence of KV Oostende and, like against Standard, he provided an assist for Theo Bongonda.
In the first half, he won a duel against Jack Hendry, after which Dessers beat the Oostende defence with his speed. He delivered Bongonda a goal on a plate.
“I was happy at halftime. I had an assist and I was in the match,” Dessers said after the game.
But in the second half he failed to score himself several times.
ZERO GOALS
On Friday evening, Dessers made five goal attempts, but he was unable to score a single goal.
In total, his scoring chances amounted to an enormously high expected goals ratio of no less than 1.62, so that Dessers performed very poorly against KV Oostende in terms of finishing and efficiency in front of goal.
The expected goals ratio is of course not an absolute indicator, but this scientific model is nevertheless an important statistic in determining the probability of goal attempts.
“With Cyriel Dessers we have an excellent alternative. I am very satisfied with his performance, it’s just a shame that he couldn’t get his deserved goal”, said John van den Brom, who was somewhat disappointed that Dessers could not score against KV Oostende.
“I should have taken one of those chances in the second half. Only the freshness had gone a bit in the last half hour. What do you want? It’s been a long time since I was on the pitch for full 90 minutes. You notice that,’ said Dessers himself after the match against Oostende.
ONUACHU VS DESSERS
After two matches in the Jupiler Pro League, John van den Brom is confronted with two major problems.
On the one hand, his team concede goals too easily, especially through set-pieces.
On the other hand, their offensive game is quite okay, but KRC Genk suffer from a blatant lack of efficiency by their top strikers.
Last week, Onuachu was not sharp in front of goal against Standard and Dessers did not improve in that aspect either against KV Oostende.
Onuachu made five attempts against Standard, none of which resulted in a goal.
Dessers also made five attempts against KV Oostende, but he also failed to score a goal.
He has already played 129 minutes in the new Jupiler Pro League season, but he is still waiting for his first league goal.
THE CHOICE OF VAN DEN BROM
John van den Brom’s striking decision to leave out Onuachu against KV Oostende seems magnanimous and protective towards the Nigerian, but the KRC Genk coach would undoubtedly have preferred to start with Onuachu in his starting team on Friday evening.
Onuachu is the absolute number one in the attack of KRC Genk and Van den Brom indicated that several times last season
“I do know that I have Cyriel Dessers on hand, but with Paul (Onuachu, ed.) I have a boy who can score and who can decide a match,” said John van den Brom last year after the match against KV Mechelen.
“Even though he wasn’t in the game at all, hey, let’s put that first. But I’m not going to change him even if you get to make five substitutions.”
BELGIUM IS NOT THE NETHERLANDS
Last season, Dessers scored only 4 goals in 28 league matches and sometimes proved to be a useful substitute for KRC Genk.
But to become the direct replacement for Paul Onuachu, even though both strikers are completely different types, he is (still) a bit too lightweight.
Onuachu is a better footballer, physically stronger and he also scores easier than Dessers, who does have more depth and works out better with his speed – as he showed against KV Oostende on Saturday.
Dessers proved to be a top marksman in the Netherlands at NAC Breda and Heracles Almelo, but in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League it has not been so successful for him.
Arnar Vidarsson already indicated last season that the difference between the two competitions should not be overlooked, even though Dessers was crowned the top scorer of the Dutch Eredivisie in the 2019/2020 season.
“He is a goal-getter, but you should not expect too much from him,” Arnar Vidarsson told the talk show Extra Time last year.
“Becoming a top scorer in the Netherlands is easier than becoming a top scorer in Belgium.
“If he wants to be top scorer this season, then he will have to step up.”
Vidarsson’s remarks have come back to the fore now.
Adapted from Voetbalnieuws.be
