Genk in overdrive: problems are piling up

The current competition is not over yet, but KRC Genk has already realized a first summer transfer with Joris Kayembe. The versatile 28-year-old offers Wouter Vrancken’s team new options as Kayembe can play as both a left back and a central defender. This will give Vrancken more flexibility in these positions, where there was hardly any competition this season. Kayembe mainly brings offensive qualities, which fits in with the vision of coach Vrancken. On the other hand, the Belgian-Congolese player is much less defensively strong compared to his future competitors Gerardo Arteaga and Mark McKenzie.

Offensive display of power at Genk

Wouter Vrancken is a coach who always has an eye for the organization of his team, but also sticks to an offensive and attractive style of play. “You’d rather watch a team that goes all out for goals than a team that doesn’t want to swallow a goal?” he said at the beginning of this season in an extensive interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. Vrancken stands for passionate football, where offensive and beautiful football are central. It is therefore no coincidence that both KV Mechelen last year and KRC Genk are regarded as the best footballing teams in the country this year. Genk have impressed this season with an impressive attack, scoring an impressive 83 goals, more than any other side in Belgium.

But the defensive stability is gone

Until January, KRC Genk combined this offensive display of power with a strong defense, conceding an average of only 0.86 goals per game. But since February there has been a clear turnaround and Genk’s defensive stability has been lost. The average number of goals conceded per match has now almost doubled to 1.56 and in the Champions’ Play-offs alone this is even 1.75 goals conceded per match (!). The defense is showing more and more vulnerability and this is one of the reasons why the Limburgers will most likely not take the title. With a view to next season, a quality injection in the defense is therefore of great importance. Genk has already taken a first step with Joris Kayembe (Sporting Charleroi) as a summer transfer.

Competitor for Arteaga and McKenzie

Joris Kayembe is known for his strong offensive and physical qualities, daring attacking style of play, dribbling skills, technique and speed. Leadership too, because at Sporting Charleroi he is one of the bosses of the dressing room. Although Kayembe has mainly played as a left-back this season, he has also acted as a central defender on several occasions due to various circumstances. And that versatility was one of the reasons why Genk attracted him. With the official announcement of Kayembe’s transfer, the Genk club website stated that he must primarily compete with Gerardo Arteaga as a left back, but that he is also an extra asset for Wouter Vrancken in the left center back.

Joris Kayembe faces a challenging task to compete in two positions next season: left back with Gerardo Arteaga and left center back with Mark McKenzie. But that certainly won’t be an easy task for him. This season’s performance shows that Kayembe outperforms Arteaga and McKenzie offensively in both positions, but is less impressive defensively compared to the Mexican and the American. Although Kayembe can certainly offer added value in the offensive aspect of the game within Wouter Vrancken’s team, defensively speaking he is not exactly a star. This can be a problem, as the Genk defense needs more stability, as shown by the aforementioned figures.

Arteaga and McKenzie (much) stronger defensively, Kayembe stronger offensively

Dimitri de Condé hopes that Joris Kayembe can develop further as a player under the wings of Wouter Vrancken and can fully flourish in the attractive playing style of KRC Genk. It is precisely this offensive style of play that appealed to Kayembe and was one of the reasons for his choice to sign with the Limburg club. This season, Kayembe has played 1,438 minutes as left back at Sporting Charleroi, in which he has made a huge contribution to the attack. Compared to Gerardo Arteaga at Genk, Kayembe has provided many more offensive impulses this season. He sends twice as many crosses, dribbles more and better, is more efficient in his numerous offensive actions and creates more chances.

Gerardo Arteaga is often blamed for a lack of offensive impact this season, and the arrival of Joris Kayembe should therefore clearly provide an answer in this area. But it is important to emphasize that a defender must also do a good job defensively in the first place. And in that area, Arteaga significantly outperforms Kayembe. Arteaga excels in clean passing, has a more footballing profile, is stronger in the air, suffers less ball loss, recovers more balls and is more consistent defensively. As a left back, Kayembe achieves a 59% efficiency in all his actions, while Arteaga scores much higher with an average of 68%.

In addition to his performances as a left back, Joris Kayembe has also played 841 minutes this season as a left centre-back. In this position he will have to compete with Mark McKenzie at Genk, which is expected to be an even tougher competition than the one with Gerardo Arteaga at left back. As a central defender, McKenzie has several strengths over Kayembe. He passes better, is physically stronger, wins more (air) duels, counts more interceptions and ball recoveries, and his efficiency in all actions taken is higher. On the other hand, Kayembe distinguishes himself as a central defender by taking more initiative on the offensive. He delivers more progressive passes, executes accelerations, dribbles and even crosses.

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