Matchday -1. The tension is rising in Brussels. One day before the cup final, the Mauves trained one last time at the King Baudouin Stadium. Before the session, coach Jérémy Taravel and captain Colin Coosemans spoke to the press. They looked ahead to the final against Union, which promises to be nerve-racking. “I always want to play dominant football,” said Taravel, “but we need to find the right balance between dominant and realistic football.” Watch the full press conference on Mauve TV.
The captain opened the press conference ahead of the cup final and briefly reflected on the off-field incidents against KAA Gent. “For 45 minutes I had to be someone I’m not in order to get the result over the line, but this is not a recurring pattern in my career. I think we need to realize that emotions are part of football,” Colin Coosemans explained. “We know we’ll need to channel our emotions against Union. In recent weeks we received two red cards that had a huge impact on our team and on our chances of getting a result. Everyone understands that tomorrow we’ll need eleven players on the pitch.”
Tomorrow’s fixture is not just a cup final. For the first time in history, the Brussels derby will be played as the cup final. “Derbies are always intense,” the captain of the Mauves acknowledged. “And when there’s also a trophy at stake, it’s definitely something that lives within the group. We have a good mix of foreign players, Belgian players, and boys who came through the academy in Neerpede. There’s a lot of talk about it, obviously also about the significance of the match.”
“What I see in the dressing room are guys who work extremely hard and are willing to go very far to win matches and bring a trophy back to Anderlecht.” The goalkeeper does not want to overthink side issues and wants to approach the final as if it were the very first match of his life. “I can still remember exactly the first match I played when I was six years old. Experiencing those same emotions again, that’s how I want to approach the match against Union: simply enjoying football.” And what needs to be different from the previous two cup finals? “The result,” the captain answered bluntly. “Playing a final is always different, and you can debate for a long time about how to play it.”
For the captain, only the result matters on Ascension Day. The coach also understands the importance of the trophy, although he emphasized the way he wants to achieve that objective. “It will be an important match, for the club, the supporters, and the players,” Jérémy Taravel began. “Tomorrow we need to control our emotions, stay focused on our game and our tactical plan. I always want to play dominant football.” It will also be a special match for Taravel himself, having evolved during the season from assistant coach to head coach, although he preferred to downplay that aspect. “No, I’m a young coach, and winning this cup would mainly mean something special for my players, our entire staff, and our fans. Personally, of course I would be happy, but I’m not thinking about my own interests.”
A true renaissance for RSC Anderlecht will require more than winning this cup final. “Winning the cup would provide a boost, that’s true, but it shouldn’t stop there. We would need to build on it further. The coach himself already played in a cup final in 2012 with Lokeren and was able to lift the trophy on that occasion. “I know how finals go. Small details will make the difference. It’s up to us to find the right balance between dominant and realistic football.”
The coach can count on almost the entire squad for the cup final. Only Mario Stroeykens is still recovering and will not be available on Thursday. And will Thorgan Hazard be in the starting lineup? “You’ll see tomorrow at 15:00,” the coach concluded with a wink.
