KV Kortrijk 2023/24: Where Edward Still must improve his struggling squad – tactical analysis

Six matches into the new Belgian Pro League season, and Kortrijk are still yet to get a win. In fact, they have been arguably the worst side in the division this season, with their 17 goals conceded the most. They also have only scored four goals this season, one of the lowest tallies, with their -13 goal difference the worst in the top flight in Belgium. 

The turmoil for Kortrijk started at the end of last season when Bernd Storck decided to depart after saving them from relegation. The German was replaced by former Charleroi and Eupen manager Edward Still, who then had to deal with crucial squad departures and a potential takeover falling through after payments from the prospective new owners failed to be made. 

Regarding squad turnover, key players departed this summer, with the likes of Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Faïz Selemani, Marko Ilić, and 17-year-old Lars Montegnies all moving on. While the Belgian side did bring in plenty of players on loan, as well as a few on free transfers, there did not seem to be much of a bigger-picture idea in the transfer market this summer. While a few of the new signings have been able to get settled in the squad, most have so far failed to do so, with Kortrijk unable to replace the holes left by notable departures Selemani and Watanabe.  

While failing to replace key departures has played its part in this situation, most of it goes down to tactics and poor decision-making. This tactical analysis will look at a few things that have gone wrong for Ed Still and Kortrijk so far this season. While Still likely has time on his side in order to try and fix what has gone wrong this season, it wont be long before the fans start to get unsettled with what is happening on the pitch.

Defensive set piece vulnerabilities 

The first deficiency this analysis will look at is Kortrijks vulnerabilities at defensive set pieces so far this season, with their lack of marking and poor defensive awareness on set pieces leading to chances and goals for opposition sides. Kortrijk have faced an average of 7.09 corners per 90 minutes this season, the highest total in the Belgian Pro League. Naturally, this would mean that Kortrijk would likely give up more chances from corners, but many of the mistakes come from poor marking or not being set properly. 

The image above shows an example of a defensive corner from Kortrijk where poor marking leads to a goal for Leuven. In this phase of play above, the home side got a corner five minutes from halftime, with Leuven taking their time over the set piece. Initially, the defensive setup from Kortrijk is good, with them using a mixture of a zonal and man-marking defensive setup. Three defenders looked to frame the six-yard box zonally, while one covered a potential short option, and the rest man marked the Leuven runners. 

However, the player to watch is the one near the edge of the penalty box. This defender gets caught ball-watching and drifts too far over from his zone, which plays a part in the breakdown that leads to the headed goal for Leuven.