Antwerp finally parted ways with Stef Wils after a dismal start to the 2025/2026 Pro League campaign. The Great Old, who won the league and cup double just a few seasons ago, are currently sitting in 14th spot with just three wins from 15 games. The nail in the coffin for Wils came as the side lost 2-1 at home to bottom of the table Dender, handing the side their first win of the season. While Wils has been the fall guy for the season so far, Marc Overmars must surely be held accountable for his role as well.
The former Ajax man was seen as the catalyst, alongside Mark van Bommel, for the sides domestic double in 2022/2023, ending a decades long wait for a title. However, since then, van Bommel has left and the side have sold many key players. Missing out on European football meant that Antwerp had to cut costs this summer, and the on pitch performances have reflected this. Yet, this is surely where someone with the reputation of Overmars is meant to excel. During the van Bommel era, the side were willing to spend money and Overmars was able to get some top talent. Now, he has to work within a much more restrictive environment, and the returns have been poor.
Overmars built his reputation as a quality sporting director with Ajax as he helped them to become a factor in European football once again. Since his departure due to his own poor behaviour, the side have struggled. But at Ajax, the club have an excellent academy and are able to sell high and bring in new talent. I am not saying its an easy job, as others have proven that it certainly is not, but Overmars tenure coincided with the emergence of some of the best players Ajax have produced in recent years.
The current situation at Antwerp is not one that Overmars has seen before. Yes, it is more difficult, but this is where the best scouts and sporting directors excel, and the problem for Overmars and Antwerp is that others in the league have shown an ability to work within these constrains effectively. Union St Gilloise are the prime example of being able to unearth talent in places where the price of players is cheaper. Antwerp tries this, bringing in Mukhammadali Urinboev from Pakhtakor Tashkent and Glenn Bijl on a free from Krylya Sovetov. Neither have had much of an impact.
Out of the 11 signings that the side have made, only three have had a real impact and even then it has been marginal. Daam Foulon looks a shadow of the high impact player he was at KV Mechelen, while Thibo Somers was, for me at least, always a strange signing. I am a big Somers fan, but his main attribute is his work rate, and Antwerp need more than that.
Yet Overmars biggest failure has been up front. Vincent Janssen has been the sole striker that Antwerp have had for two seasons now, and when he isnโt there, they look toothless upfront. It is no coincidence that the side struggled against bottom of the table Dender at the weekend without him. The only striker that the club signed was Marwan Al-Sahafi on loan from Al Ittihad. Clearly, they hadnโt done much scouting on the Saudi-Arabian forward. If they had really watched him at Beerschot last season they would have known that most of his six goals came on the counter attack, but Antwerp are just not set up to play on the counter. His one goal in 11 games so far is proof of this.
Quality just simply has not been replaced, and fans have every right to be frustrated. Plenty of money has come in from the sales of Mahamadou Doumbia, Senne Lammens, Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Jacob Ondrejka this year. Understandably, the side needed to cut costs and were never expected to reinvest all of that income. However, one would expect that a Sporting Director with the reputation of Overmars would be able to spot bring in enough talent to ensure Antwerp had a chance of returning to European football.
That seems a long way away, and his immediate job is to find a head coach who can get them out of the bottom four. They will have to be active in January. Yes they have brought in some young players, and there is talent in the likes of teenagers Gerard Vandeplas and Youssef Hamdaoui. But they are still under the age of 20 and cannot be expected to drive this team forward.
Other players like Christopher Scott and Anthony Valencia have been there for a number of seasons now without making much of an impact. Clearly both could do with finding new homes, and Overmars and co need to ensure these players are moved and replaced with ones that can contribute in January.
Overmars spoke of a long term vision for Antwerp, which would entail them signing these young players and using academy talent to challenge for the title in three years. An admirable goal, but one that sounds incredibly naive when you think about the nature of Belgian football. One would require all these players to peak at the same time, as once a player shows ability and has a break out season, they leave the next summer for a top five league. Moreover, the short-term goal has to be pushing for European football to bring in the finances required to be competitive in the Pro League.
Antwerp fans will remember that dark days of just a decade ago, when they were languishing in the second tier and almost went out of business. They have had a dramatic rise back to the top flight since then, but this could all be undone if they suffer a humiliating relegation. No team is โtoo goodโ to go down, but the set up of the Pro League makes it very unlikely that Antwerp will be relegated. However, they cannot just sit on their hands and hope that the โyouthโ plan of Overmars works out. They have already shown action with the sacking of Wils, now it is over to Overmars to prove he can work with a constrained budget and inject this squad with more talent in January to start the climb out of the bottom four.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
