Title Challenge Tactics: Where Union Saint-Gilloise must fortify their defence to secure league glory – scout report

At the beginning of March, Union Saint-Gilloise were flying in the Belgian Pro League, with it looking like Alexander Blessin’s side would go into the Championship playoff round with a little bit of breathing space over second-placed Anderlecht after the points were halved. However, their form started to fall off after that victory against Leuven on March 2nd, with Blessin’s side dropping points in their final two regular-season games against Gent and Antwerp while also losing over two legs in the Conference League Round of 16 to Fenerbahçe. 

This meant that USG went into the Championship playoff round with only a 3-point lead over Brussels rivals Anderlecht, and now that gap is completely gone after the first round of fixtures, after Anderlecht beat Antwerp, and USG lost away to Genk. This tactical analysis and scout report will take a more detailed look at the recent defeat to Genk while also digging a little bit deeper into the recent defensive struggles of Union Saint-Gilloise as we look at some common trends from their recent loss to Fenerbahçe and draws to Gent and Antwerp.

USG’s current defensive struggles analysed

The main problem that has plagued USG in their recent fixtures is the tendency for their defensive shape to be broken rather easily, with this likely frustrating Blessin and his coaching staff, mainly due to Union Saint-Gilloise being one of the best sides in Belgium defensively over the course of the regular season. Another thing likely to frustrate the German coach is the fact that the defensive lapses have been poor and could have easily been prevented, as the following examples will highlight and discuss in more detail. 

The image above shows the initial phase of Genk’s winning goal against the current league leaders on Monday evening. The phase starts from a goal kick for Genk, with RB Leipzig-bound Maarten Vandevoordt playing out from the back, with Wouter Vrancken opting to match Blessin with a back three formation and look to go man-to-man with Union Saint-Gilloise. The ball is progressed towards midfield down the far touchline, with wingback Joris Kayembe driving forward before playing a pass centrally to Patrik Hrošovsky, who is currently in possession in this image. 

The USG backline are caught high, with central centre-back Christian Burgess being responsible for holding the line and playing the offside trap. The 32-year-old former Arsenal and West Ham United youth player looks to advance the line, noticing the positioning of Genk striker Tolu Arokodare on the shoulder of the last defender. However, while emergency centre-back Charles Vanhoutte does step up with Burgess, bother wingback Alessio Castro-Montes and left-sided central defender Ross Sykes fail to step, with Hrošovsky able to play a ball over the top and behind the USG backline.