Brave Nieuw World: Mark McKenzie at Genk

He speaks a little bit of Dutch in this video.

 

On the bench:

[Line up]
Forza Racing. 💪💙#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gnksta pic.twitter.com/Yh8SgEYsjh

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) March 19, 2021

 

Damn, what's the deal? He's a high purchase buy and he's been on the bench like all month.

 

I'm pretty sure the idea was for him to learn from the bench until next year (/until they sell one of their other young, good CBs).

Seems like him starting so many games so early was a combination of injuries/suspensions to other CBs.

The fact he played well and even Genk fans were impressed probably gave us more hope than we expected.

 

Coming home, will miss these guys!! pic.twitter.com/XIObfhK8zM

— Danny Vukovic (@vuka20) March 21, 2021

Genk has some great supporters. Mark is probably going to love playing in front of them once fans are allowed back in the stadium.

 

Has anyone asked Gregg why he wasn't selected for this camp? Or do we chalk it off to Miazga and EPB playing regularly while McKenzie has been on the bench for a month? And, yes, I realize Ream is there and not playing but Gregg has some overage quota to fill so that the camp isn't all U23.

 

I chalked it up to McKenzie wanting to get his starting spot back, personally.

 

McKenzie starting.

Around the 5th minute he had a good step up and steal in the offensive third and laid it off for a midfielder, who passed it to a forward for a shot that barely missed.

And just now he had a hockey assist, though barely because it was a simple forward pass in possession to a deep lying midfielder, who proceeded to dribble from the midfield line to the edge of the box, is fouled and the loose ball is slammed into the corner of the net by someone else.

 

Genk win 3-2 but they sure made it hard for themselves. McKenzie was not at fault for any goals and looked good. Steady and calm like his best with the Union.

It's harder to judge a CB and not that this is some authoritative source but the only Genk forum I found likes what they see from McKenzie a lot, saying he has the calmness of a veteran and should be the starter moving forward.

 

So with the title playoffs quickly approaching and Genk nearly through, I'm curious what the format will be this year.

I see that it's 4 teams instead of 6 this year, with the winner going through to the Champions League group stage. But are they going to do the thing they usually do where each team starts off with half their regular season point total in the playoffs? If so, Brugge is probably still too far ahead for anyone to catch, but 2nd place (which secures entry into Champions League qualifying) is still entirely up for grabs.

 

Yes

 

Huge to see him get a start at a much needed USMNT position when others thought he wouldn’t see more minutes until next season.

We know McKenzie is a solid CB, he just needs more minutes at this level.

 

McKenzie was better off served not playing with the USMNT this past window. It seems like staying with his club helped.

 

Yeah, and the fact that EPB was called in but didn't get any minutes means he is ahead of him on the depth chart. And should surpass Miazga and Ream.

 

McKenzie subbed in for Cuesta at the start of the second half today v (Chris Durkin's) St Truiden, Genk currently winning 4-0 at 60'.

 

Ends 4-0.

And with that win, Genk secure qualification to the title playoffs alongside Club Brugge and two other clubs yet to be decided.

 

This was really well produced actually

 

Apparently it is a toe knock he picked up yesterday. According to people who watched the broadcast

 

Genk (along with Club Brugge, Antwerp, and Anderlecht) make the playoffs.

I don't think the points get cut in half. First qualifies for CL group stage, second for CL qualification, third for Conference qualification, and fourth for a play-off to make the Conference.

Genk are now in 4th.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–21_Belgian_First_Division_A#Play-Off_I

 

It's worth noting the camp in the last window was about 45 minutes south of Vienna. If EPB was going to get a look, it was this camp as it was literally just down the road.

 

On the bench:

Onze 𝗲𝗹𝗳 ➡️🏆#krcgenk #mijnploeg #stagnk pic.twitter.com/N0EA4zgqSZ

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) April 25, 2021

 

The Cup final is on ESPN+ at 2:45 PM Eastern.