Correct. Also good for Gooch! 2nd start overall... 1 Copa del Rey start... he made a 2 minute sub appearance against Milan last CL game.
Gooch played pretty well except for his clearance that went straight to a Zenit player for their second goal
Goal.com ratings had this to say about Gooch's performance: A tower of strength at the back, and was more than a match for Hulk whenever they squared up together. Dominant in the air when defending st pieces and crosses, and hardly put a foot wrong otherwise.
Just finished watching the last 20 min of the match. Malaga drew 2-2 and are now through to the knockout rounds. Makes the 6th group game superfluous so Gooch should get more time next round. From what I saw, Gooch looked pretty solid. Malaga was up 2-1 and their attacking players seemed somewhat indifferent. Zenit brought a lot of pressure and Malaga did concede a goal but it was a group concession. Gooch probably had 8 tackles and/or clearances in those 20 min. Got lots of positives from the commentators (for what that's worth).
http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/66...ions-League-2012-2013-Zenit-Petersburg-Malaga "7.1" from WhoScored ... a very decent grade, a the club got "6.93" as an average. (though Hulk got "7.3" and Danny "7.6", for Zenit that averaged 6.75). FWIW, the Russian national team players did not grade all that well : Malafeyev 5.4, Anyukov 6.4, Denisov 6.8, Shirokov 6.3, Kerzhakov 6.7.
I wasn't insulting Gooch. I'm saying his agent has done a good job of putting him in good situations.
Gooch has always been very agressive too, it seems to me, in the transfer market. Even back in the Metz days, when he fell out of favor, he got out of town and worked his way up the Juliper ladder. I remember all the folks call BS at the clubs he was linked to - even when Prud'homme confirmed the Real Madrid offer folks said it was BS. Some didn't even believe the Milan transfer despite Gooch being on the roster. Someone knows how to get noticed and make a deal happen, that's for sure. Good on him. He's a good player and the injury was inopportune, but he's got some gas left in the tank, I think.
Gooch was slow to close in on the guy who sent in the cross for the first goal and had a bad clearance that should have led to the second goal. Otherwise, he was muscling Hulk and company off the ball the whole time.
Pic from the game. Yeah, none of us has ever flinched a little while an opponent is clearing a ball in front of us.
If I were inclined to make a prediction, I would predict that Gooch will not start this weekend, but that he will start the last CL group match v Anderlecht on December 4. But I am not so inclined.
This looks more like a group of 8 year old playing Power Rangers than a soccer game. It looks freakin' dangerous out there.
It seemed like it took the entire first half for the announcers to stop confusing the dude with the Arsenio Hall haircut with Gooch.
Gooch always did defend against guys like Hulk well, forwards who get a lot of mileage out of their physicality. It's the quick, guileful forwards that turned him like a screw.