Knowing me, it was just a matter of time untill i posted something about Belgium!
My reason
Being inspired by the Championship discussion thread and knowing there aren't enough players playing belgian teams to start seperate threads for every team, i decided to opt for this: Put everything about Belgian teams in 1 thread!
Sorry LincolnCanary if i stole some stuff out of your thread but i took yours as an example, i hope you don't mind!
Introduction The Belgian First Division, also known as
Jupiler League (it is sponsored by InBev, the makers of Jupiler), is the top competition in Belgian football. It was created in 1895.
R.S.C. Anderlecht is the most successful league club with 29 titles, followed by
Club Brugge K.V. (13), R. Union Saint-Gilloise (11) and
R. Standard de Liège (8). Anderlecht are the current defending champions.
The
Jupiler League reinforced its status as an entry league for players who then move on to some of the greatest European clubs in some of the past years.
Indeed, some of the most talented players
in Europe have played for Belgian clubs: Jean-Pierre Papin was discovered at Club Brugge; Sunday Oliseh at RFC Liégeois;
Jan Koller and
Aruna Dindane at R.S.C. Anderlecht; and
Mido at K.A.A. Gent. Others are
Emmanuel Eboué, Anthony Vanden Borre, Vincent Kompany, Christian Wilhelmsson and many more! The teams & their Key Players
Just like in the Championship thread i'll follow this route. Just for your convenience or it may even help out in picking your team.
AA Gent - a team that has become one of the stronger teams in the divison under guidance of Georges Leekens. They now have a great manager in Trond Sollied and with players like Stoica & Zewlakow they're a strong force!
RSC Anderlecht - One of the best, if not the best, teams in Belgium. Anderlecht's foundations are based on technical ability. This is seen in players like Boussoufa, Biglia & Hassan.
Cercle Brugge - In real life they're competing for a european spot. They went from one of the worst clubs in Belgium to become one of the teams to beat! Great experience in Hasi & Iachtchouk, but also talent in Serebrennikov, Tom De Sutter & Stijn De Smet.
Charleroi - Big dreams but they are yet to live up to them. A decent squad with a great striker in Akpala. Why not try living up to their dreams?
Club Brugge - One of the best teams in Belgium. Had 2 restructuring years and have finally built a great team with Djokic, Sonck & Daerden. #1 in the rankings irl!
FC Molenbeek Brussels - Last season they had a great start and then one of the worst slumps ever. Now they are still in that slump. Good players are Matumona Zola, Culek and Gorius.
FCV Dender - They promoted from second division last year. They'll be a challenge. Dufoor and Munyaneza are some good players.
KRC Genk - One of the better clubs, came 2nd last year. Great youth academy and good players. Haroun, Vossen, Alex & Soetaers are some to mention.
Germinal Beerschot - They've been trying to get in with the big boys for years. However miserably keep on failing by selling the best players they have. Dosunmu, Né and the brothers Monteyne are the ones to watch.
KV Mechelen - Good old yellow red! Promoted last season and have some great players about paired with a great history! Need a bit of strengthening to get into the top half with quality in Imschoot, Adamovic and Charai.
Lokeren - An average team in Belgium, but seem to be strong this year. Tambwe and Overmeire seem to be good and an ageing Doll for experience!
RAEC Mons - Promoted some season back and have since stayed in as an average team. Still seem to struggle and stay in degredation zones, despite players like Stolica, Roussel and Dalmat.
Mouscron - An established force in Belgian football, but fail to keep impressing season after season. Good to build a future top club with players like Sapina, Grondin and Kebé.
Roeselare - Promoted together with Zulte Waregem 2 years ago, but didn't have the same amount of succes. They've got some good lads in Kenny Thompson, Kovalenko and Akgül.
Sint Truiden - Seem to have a hard time irl. Peter Van Houdt is a great striker!
Standard - Living in a dream world at times. They are one of the best but keep failing in the second half of the season irl. Even this season they have dropped some important points already! Best player is Defour. But also Mbokani, Jovanovic, Witsel and Onyewu!
Westerlo - Another average team. Has some talent in Jajá and some experience in Mennes.
Zulte Waregem - My favourite team in Belgium. They produce an attacking array of football and have a great batch of belgian players. Matthys, Vandermarière, D'Haemers, Dindeleux, De Vlieger and Leye are some to mention!
Some decent targets for championship sides
Can't have a division based thread without this topic in it! I'll be trying to keep it to cheap players, since there isn't alot of money to spend in Belgium.
- Alex (Vasco Da Gama) : Can definately grow in Belgium and is pretty cheap. Might not sign for some teams.
- Grégory Christ : Seems like a good winger for both sides. Plays at Charleroi though!
- Sven Delanoy : Used to be my football trainer IRL (sunday team). Great lad irl and worth mentioning as a decent MC.
- Charles-André Doudin : For anyone who needs a striker.
- Chris James : Freebie and some great stats for a 20 year old AMRLC.
- Mohamed Kallon : Can definetaly be a great asset to most clubs in Belgium.
- Kléberson : Now this is one for the bigger teams. Freebie at the start, but i'm not sure if he'll join.
- Pablo Piatti : I've heard rave revieuws about this AMC from some on the forums and i think he might join a belgian club.
- Ibrahim Salou : Will be hard to take him over from Club Brugge. He's on the fringes irl and so this striker
could leave the club.
- Serhat : Transfer listed at Anderlecht and definately a good asset to the minor teams in the competition, if he will sign!
- Joos Valgaeren : An experienced belgian DC who used to play for Celtic. Can definately harden your defence!
Others might like : Quincy Allée, Kjartan Finnbogason, Wilson, João Guilherme, ... (and many more)
Hope that helps; feel free to add any detailed posts about individual Belgian teams; i.e. if you want to tell us about how you get the best out of - say - AA Gent, feel free to add it. Or even feel free to just add a name of a good Jupiler League level player. My hope is that this will eventually turn into a bible for Belgian-based managers in FM.
~Thanx for reading