Greetings people of Belgium! Apparently, Geoffrey Claeys from Royal Excelsior Mouscron is about to sign to play with my local team in Australia (Melbourne Victory FC). http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12350065%5E11088,00.html We have very little information about him. Could you please let me know if he is a good player or not? I know that he has played a few games for the Belgian national team and was in the squad for WC France 98, so he must be a decent player, although that was a few years ago. How has he been playing recently? Thanks in advance for any help you could provide.
I think the word you can use to describe him best is probably 'underachiever'. He has played for Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Anderlecht earlier in his career, and never really was able to make a true impact at any of those clubs. He's was always a decent player for teams just below the top in Belgium, like Lierse and Moeskroen.
Thanks for the information, Belgian Guy. For anyone interested, the transfer has been confirmed today. Geoffrey Claeys: Royal Excelsior Mouscron (Belgium) --> Melbourne Victory FC (Australia). I think he will see out the rest of the Belgian season. http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/aleague/mv/article/show.asp?articleid=8511&menuItemID=
Wow...the club seems to expect a lot from him ! hope you will be satisfy with him.Give us some news of him from timie to time.
Hello! I'm a supporter of Mouscron (the club of Claeys), and I can say we don't like him very much. He played a couple of matches this season , and he really missed them! He has been 4 years in Mouscron and he didn't realize great matches. In fact, we are very happy he's leaving us. Until january, the directors of the club are trying to sell him, or more, to get rid of him! Perhaps he will play much better in his new environment, but I'm not convinced... Geof in a few words: tall, good in the air, psychologically weak, very slow, not courageous... but he has got experiency (perhaps the only thing...) Good luck with him, and give us news from him (I hope for you we made a mistake letting him go), Boubou, supporter of Royal Excelsior Mouscron
Boubou, Thanks for your (brutal) honesty! This is the sort of information I was looking for (not that I can do anything about it as I am just a fan). I was hoping to hear something more positive, but I want to hear the truth too. He is going to a completely new team in Melbourne (just formed 4 months ago) and we haven't played any games yet. Soccer in Australia has had a lot of administrative problems in the past, and so the old national league was disbanded last year and a new league will start in August this year. Maybe in a new environment, Claeys can find his niche. Anyway, that's what I'm hoping for! Thanks again.
** Geoffrey Claeys ** My side, Melbourne Victory has signed Geoffrey Claeys Please tell me as much infomation as possbile. From what ive seen of him at the pratice games and training he looks one of the best defenders ive ever seen. Never rushed, tall, strong, decent speed, not scared of a 50/50 always has alot of time and very classy. Just looks a head above the other players on the pitch. My favorite player and my early tip for best player int he team this season. Pure class act.
From what I have seen he is very tall and quite strong, dominates in the air, Im not sure about his mental state? Not slow but not fast, doesnt mind a 50/50 ball and goes in quite hard and his 'experiency' shines though
Re: ** Geoffrey Claeys ** Like I said in the other thread, he has had a decent career, but a lot more was expected from him when he just started out. He never quite made it at the top teams in Belgium and Holland.
Here's a nice article for you guys about Mr.Claeys http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/claeys-to-show-victory-his-class/2005/07/21/1121539088028.html Melbourne Victory played the first game of the pre-season cup last night (1-1 draw away to Newcastle Jets) and apparently Claeys was quite good. (I have not seen any vision.) The following is taken from today's newspaper report: Victory also got good service from new Belgian signing Geoffrey Claeys, who was dominant in defence.