“A new low for him” – Aston Villa loanee slammed for being critical of teammates in interview

On August 31st, Aston Villa allowed Leander Dendoncker to join Anderlecht on a loan deal with an option to buy.

The midfielder, who was on loan at Napoli in the second half of last season, struggled for regular minutes under Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

Dendoncker has enjoyed regular minutes with the Jupiler Pro League side, clocking in 720 minutes from eight matches. He also captained Anderlecht in most of those fixtures.

At the weekend, the Aston Villa loanee operated as a centre-back in Anderlecht’s 2-1 loss to Club Brugge. After the tie, the 29-year-old told DAZN, relayed by Voetbal Primeur, that his teammates lacked enthusiasm against Club Brugge.

“Yes, I think you could see that Club Brugge wanted it very much today. I think we lacked that a little bit. It starts with the will to really win. They had that more today, so you start with an advantage,” he said.

The Villans owned player being critical of his teammates didn’t go down well with former Belgium international Marc Degryse. The 59-year-old represented Anderlecht, Sheffield Wednesday and others during his playing career.

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Degryse was critical of his former club’s recent displays. His comments are relayed by another report from Voetbal Primeur.

“Anderlecht were immediately grabbed by the throat by Club [Brugge]. For me it is incomprehensible how Anderlecht came out on top. Last week I was already critical after their disgrace against Beerschot. Now it was even worse,” he said.

The former forward didn’t hold back when slamming Dendoncker for being critical of his teammates.

“And in the back… Guys, right, Dendoncker! This was a new low for him and Anderlecht. I don’t know what problems Dendoncker has, but I have never seen so little enthusiasm from a captain and from someone who has to pull things along,” Degryse explained.

“I mean you could see on the field that they had a lot more willpower. They also played with that audience at home. Anyway, it is indeed something that is unacceptable. We have to look at ourselves.

“Even his interview after the match, in which he said that Club had more enthusiasm and sharpness, was painful. This was un-Anderlecht.”