Charles De Ketelaere has spoken about the ‘ketchup theory’ and also the ‘honour’ he feels to captain the Belgian U21 side.
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It was a difficult first season for De Ketelaere at Milan as he did not score a goal and managed just one assist after the old management decided to pay out over €30m to sign him from Club Brugge, where he had amassed 28 goal contributions the season prior.
Of course there are a lot of contextual factors to consider such as having to adapt to a new club in a new league in a new country, with the hope that the second season brings about a turnaround as it did for Rafael Leao and Sandro Tonali.
Speaking at a press conference on behalf of Belgium U21 national team, De Ketelaere was asked questions about his season and playing for his country, with Calciomercato.com relaying his comments.
On captaincy: “It was an honour to have had this chance. If Vranckx were to return, I think he would be the captain again. Aster was also captain for most of the qualification, so I think it’s normal,” he said.
On Leao’s praise through social media: “I don’t dwell too much on social media, actually. It was a good moment of the game.”
De Ketelaere was asked about whether the ‘ketchup theory’ might apply to him, whereby at first without applying pressure nothing comes out, but by continuing to shake the bottle the ketchup (in this case the goals) begin to flow in a large quantity.
“It could be true, although it’s not because you score once then suddenly you start scoring. It just gets a little easier,” he said.
“I’d like to help the team with a goal or an assist, but even if I didn’t do any of his, I’d still be happy if we win and I help with my quality.”
