KV Mechelen suffered a heavy 0-4 defeat against Westerlo in the Jupiler Pro League, a result that shows the club's disastrous start to the season. The match at the Achter de Kazerne stadium turned into a complete humiliation for coach Luc Marijnissen's team, which now sits at a low point with just two points from five matches. Communication and cohesion within the squad were completely absent.
The first ten minutes of the match were reasonably okay according to analyst Frédéric Vanderbiest, but things quickly went downhill for KV Mechelen after that. An early conceded goal and an injury that forced them to play with ten men saw the team completely lose its grip on the game. "When we were down to ten men due to an injury, we had to try and keep things tight," Vanderbiest told the rights holder. Westerlo, according to the Mechelen assistant coach, even had chances for three or four additional goals, painfully exposing Mechelen's defensive issues.
The fans reacted extremely negatively to the 0-4 loss, which confirmed the poor start to the season. The team has now scored five goals and conceded thirteen, resulting in a negative goal difference of eight. In the standings, KV Mechelen is currently in 15th place, already eleven points behind leaders Union St. Gilloise.
Luc Marijnissen did not mince his words after the match. The KV Mechelen coach took full responsibility for the losses and admitted that his choices sometimes fail to work out. "You cannot explain this. And you cannot do this to the fans, the club, and ourselves. This is scandalous. This really must not happen," a stunned Marijnissen said. He emphasized the need for a good conversation and that everyone, with the staff leading the way, must look in the mirror.
The solution proposed by the coach is for players and staff to sit down together and discuss the direction. This crisis meeting comes at a time when the squad is also dealing with absences. Leo Fuhr Hjelde and Tijn Van Ingelgom are currently sidelined, further thinning out the selection. The current status of the player group can be followed on our injuries page.
The pressure on the team has increased enormously after this series of poor results. The recent form of LDLDL offers little hope for the immediate future. The next fixture is a home match against RSC Anderlecht on September 11, 2026, a confrontation that now carries extra weight. Anderlecht is currently eleventh in the table.
Ahead of that important match, KV Mechelen urgently needs to find a way to get its engine running again. The coming days will be marked by internal evaluations and the search for answers. The full schedule of upcoming matches can be found in the fixtures. The home game against Anderlecht on September 11 is the next test for Marijnissen and his players.
