Gooch and Standard travel to Roeselare on Saturday for a Jupiler league match. Standard have come crashing out of the gates, winning all 3 of their games by a 4-1 scoreline. 1 05/08/2007 20:30 SV Zulte-Waregem Standard Liège 1-4 2 11/08/2007 20:00 Standard Liège FC Brussels 4-1 3 19/08/2007 18:00 Standard Liège Cercle Brugge 4-1 4 25/08/2007 20:00 KSV Roeselare Standard Liège - 5 02/09/2007 20:30 Standard Liège Club Brugge KV - 6 16/09/2007 18:00 AA Gent Standard Liège - They have some tough games to come though against Brugge and Gent.
16 goals from 4 games and allowing 3 now that's what I call total domination. Standard are off to a great start. Probably a better start than anyone is Europe at the moment. Fantastic for Gooch, if he has plans to move on. I assuming since there have only allowed 3 goals, he is helping tremendously and his form is rounding into shape.
It's nice to see Gooch regain form. He was the best defender vs. Sweden against a world-class striker and he's leading Gooch in a nice run. I'm still surprised a low-table EPL team hasn't called him, because there's not much more he can do in the Jupiler league. He's not a huge gamble, he should be playing top flight football.
im glad....consistency is starting to come back, im not convinced he is a finished product yet. he's a free agent in january, he'll move. Im still crossing my fingers on Marseille. It was brought to my attention Marseille got their center back, the swiss cheese that is their defense indicates otherwise to me . That team needs help on D, simple as that. I think thats one of the first places Gooch walks onto to try and impress.
I thought he had to renew his contract with SDL to go on loan to Newcastle? Help me out if I am mistaken?
Well, Standard are just creaming people. I watched the Blackburn-Everton match today, and Christopher Samba was awesome. This is the type of player I always thought Gooch would be. Samba was not only an intimidating physical presence, but also pretty fast. If Gooch plays well, a bigger club will come for him again. No doubt.
With everyone proclaiming his re-found consistency and return to form, has anhyone actually seen any of these games or even read a match report favorably reviewing him?
Well,what good would that do? For that matter,based on no firsthand evidence,I proclaim that the early results mean Gooch has found his level and should never leave Belgium.
Well considering he played well against Sweden, and his team is dominating without allowing goals. I'd assume he's playing well. Then again, I tend to see the glass half full, and steer away from overwhelming negativity.
Well, if this is what you are basing your assessment on, it's not a glass half full analysis. How can you say the glass half full if you actually have no idea how he's playing in the belgian league? Hell, Arsenal are off to a fine start, should I therefore conclude that Jens Lehmann was doing a hell of a job so far because of a decent game against england? Of course not, I wouldn't say that because that would be stupid. I'm a cockeyed optimist myself, but how can I possibly say that someone has regained form when I've not only seen it with my own eyes, but haven't heard a single critique from someone who saw that game. Does that make commonsense? So I ask, is there anyone out there that has a sense of how he's doing based on something other than dumb hope? I really want to know.
Onyewu got a 6 for this game, with the comment "pratiquement jamais sollicite defensivement. A livre une prestation tres sobre". On another section of this site they list the top players and weakest players of the season (although it was only through the first 3 games), and Gooch was in neither list. http://www.rscl.be/?rub=analysematch#
Again, I saw him, with my own eyes, play well against a class forward (Ibra). He looked to have regained his confidence and played very well. I see him go 90, in an UNDEFEATED (note, not 1 draw, when the reason for the draw is COMPLETELY a keeper's fault), and having few card issues and no negative match reports, I'd assume he's regaining his form. Usually teams with horrible CBs don't end up with positive results. If I had access to Belgian TV, I may be able to make personal assessments. Highlights seldom show defensive prowess, but mistakes, and of what I've seen Gooch has been strong. He's received no negative reports, played 90 minutes in every game, winning all with no more than 1 goal against. I'd say it's far from a leap of faith to assume Gooch is beginning to regain confidence, hence, form.
The glass is definitely half full. But the milk may be sour! I'm glad to see Gooch's team doing well but haven't seem him play. Standard has a nice website which posts good quality goal clips. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't checked it out. http://www.standardliege.be/fr/video/index.php Not that you'll see any Gooch highlights (except him celebrating a goal w teammates) from this past game. Standard should definitely advance beyond the current stage of the UEFA cup as they've won the away leg against a team from Luxemburg by 3-0. A 4-game highscoring winning streak is an excellent way to start off their league but the games against the bigger teams will provide a better measuring stick. The next game with Club Brugge will be pretty interesting.
Again, where are these reports you have read and understood, other than the one linked after your post? Yes, I would agree, this is all an indication that he's not "horrible". Having regained his form is entirely a different question.
glad that gooch is playing well (supposedly or apparently). but realistically, is there even a chance that he'll move by the transfer deadline, which is in a few days?