Brave Nieuw World: Mark McKenzie at Genk

I would say this is a coaching change that is really going to help our guy.

If we acknowledge the ones that hurt we should point out the ones that help.

A year under his belt, trial by fire with the Nats. Time to shine young man.

 

The ones that *can* help. The new guy will have his preferred tactics (though the sporting director system suggests that there won't be dramatic changes there), styles, etc. What's near-universal with a new coach is to decide if the current lineup has the quality there and if they do to give (most of) them a chance to show it in the first one-two games - and drop them ruthlessly if they don't.

If a player's been marginalized by the current guy, a replacement is the perfect time to step it up a level or twenty in training. Like you said, the time to shine is nigh!

 

Starts in cup match:

𝗢𝗻𝘇𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗳.#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gnkclu pic.twitter.com/8izXjCZqxF

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 1, 2021

 

They lost on penalties, 3-3 before the penalties.

 

Starts:

TEAM 🔵⚪#krcgenk #mijnploeg #kvmgnk pic.twitter.com/NclSbdgdDV

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 5, 2021

 

Mark McKenzie with another 90 minutes under his belt for Genk today in 1-1 draw at Mechelen: 83% passing rate (103/119), 3/5 duels won, 5 clearances, 2/4 aerials won, 7 recoveries. #USMNT

— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) December 6, 2021

 

Pretty nice stat line.

Two questions, for the forum:

1) Is anyone here actually watching his club games?

2) If yes, does he suffer from John Brooks Syndrome as much there as he has with the national team (ie - switching off and making regular catastrophic errors)?

 

Genk played most of the 2nd half up a man, so McKenzie wasn’t forced into too much defending

 

So it is written, so it shall be done: https://www.krcgenk.be/nl/nieuws/4501/einde-samenwerking-met-john-van-den-brom

 

Started:

Onze starters. 🔵⚪#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gnkscr pic.twitter.com/jenMhY6I9n

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 9, 2021

 

I thought he played pretty well.... he was not at fault for the single goal given up (happened on a corner counter)... but Genk gets bounced from Europe as they could not score a single goal at home. Awful result for them.

 

Starts:

Onze 𝗲𝗹𝗳 🔵⚪#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gntgnk pic.twitter.com/Dxw3GNwB2j

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 12, 2021

 

Bernd Storck swoops in as the new coach of KRC Genk. He is apparently famous for keeping small teams up in the Belgian top league.

 

Genk’s offense is looking good. They’ve had several chances, but still 0-0. I haven’t heard McKenzie mentioned but I am only half paying attention.

Edit: I had them confused, Gent are the ones wearing blue and they’ve had the good chances. Still unclear if McKenzie was involved in giving those up or not.

 

He has started last 4 matches for Genk (2 UEL and 2 Jupiler). Hopefully a trend that continues. Showed versatility during that time as he played RCB, LCB and a little RB.

 

He hasn't been. The goal itself was a long shot outside of the box. The other teams chances mostly came from long balls dumped on the right side of Genk, Sadicks + Itos side.

McKenzie has been good I thought, some interceptions and good quick forward outlet passes. The issue is that Genk is so bad right now. Their midfield just never seems to own any game I watch, they seem so slow and unathletic. Their wingers have one v one talent but are one trick ponies. Their striker is a great big man but he can't do it all.

Also how many times can Genk be offsides in a half? It's such a bad look when you arent able to keep the ball at all.

 

The past few games yeah, he has been getting good minutes. Apparently for tonight the other two CBs + the RB tested positive for Covid, so that complicates thing for Genk but probably means more minutes for McKenzie for the immediate future.

 

Genk lose 1-0. Their offense is really inept.

McKenzie played perfectly fine. No real bad moments. Good in duels. The 3CB formation helped him not just pass to his CB partner all the time too, I saw more medium-length diagonals out to the wings.

I think the key is that he looks perfectly good enough for this level. He just needs more consistent playing time and for the club situation to improve.

 

That goal was ridiculous. Long work burner from outside (?) the box that somehow missed everyone.

 

Starts:

Ons team. 💪#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gnkcha pic.twitter.com/KyPPyX1ddw

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 16, 2021

 

Starts again:

Onze 𝗲𝗹𝗳 starters. 💪#krcgenk #mijnploeg #gnkant pic.twitter.com/zLxxsqbSHK

— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) December 19, 2021

 

ANOTHER 🇺🇸 @FotMob MAN OF THE MATCH HONOR!

Mark McKenzie earned the honors during @KRCGenkofficial match against Royal Antwerp. McKenzie had 11 recoveries and won 5/6 duels! pic.twitter.com/64YrV0gYeJ

— The Best Soccer Show (@bestiessoccer) December 19, 2021

Sometimes Fotmob ratings are weird. Like I thought he played well enough but I'm not sure it was MoM well.

The goal given up was just poor defense all around, with McKenzie having some part in that. First he won a header but played it centrally right into the path of an Antwerp player. A few seconds later, McKenzie is defending in the box and seems caught between two players, decides to shadow an attacker making a run to the endline, and at the same time the crosser on the edge of the box sends in a low cross to an open later runner for a goal. If McKenzie had held his ground, or decided to cover the late runner instead, he could have intercepted it.

 

Fotmob match ratings are purely numbers driven and shouldn't be taken at all seriously. They may be helpful to get a really broad sense of how a team played or whatever, but beyond that they're not worth much.

Love that app though. It's really a must-have for any fan of the game.

 

I'm not shocked. Before they conceded, I was considering suggesting he was MOTM in the pbp thread. No one in the attack had that good of a game, and he was the best of the defense.