Football Season Guide

Standard Liege

In


Lucas Pirard (gk) Kortrijk; Josué Homawoo (def) Dinamo 1948; Marco Ilaimaharitra (mid) Kortrijk; Nayel Mehssatou (mid) Kortrijk; Casper Nielsen (mid) Club Brugge; Tobias Mohr (mid) Schalke 04; Hakim Sahabo (mid) Beerschot – end of loan; Rafiki Saïd (att) Troyes; Adnane Abid (att) Patro Eisden; Dennis Eckert Ayensa (att) Union Saint-Gilloise – loan made permanent; Thomas Henry (att) Hellas Verona; Grejohn Kyei (att) Charleroi – end of loan; Moussa Djenepo (att) Antalyaspor – end of loan;

Out


Gavin Bazunu (r) (gk) Southampton – end of loan; Ilay Camara (r) (def) Anderlecht; Jean Amani Lazare (r) (mid) Union Saint-Gilloise – end of loan; Andi Zeqiri (r) (att) Racing Genk – end of loan; Attila Szalai (sp) (def) Hoffenheim – end of loan; Lucas Noubi (sp) (def) Deportivo La Coruna; Marko Bulat (sp) (mid) Dinamo Zagreb – end of loan; Sotiris Alexandropoulos (sp) (mid) Sporting Lisbon – end of loan; Andreas Hountondji (sp) (att) Burnley – end of loan; Laurent Henkinet (gk) end of career; Brahim Ghalidi (mid) NAC Breda; Soufiane Benjdida (att) released;

Despite having huge financial problems and scoring just 22 goals in 30 regular season games Standard somehow managed to win 10 of those 30 games and only just missed out on a top 6 finish. Coach Leko relied on many youngsters and loanees. He had issues with injuries in defence all season too but Standard kept playing compact and effective football. Missing on the top 6 meant that the motivation was lost. With survival secured Standard simply cruised through Play-off II when many teenagers and fringe players got some experience. Tired of the impossible finances of the club coach Leko resigned at the end of the season. Mircea Rednic returns for his second stint as the manager, he was in charge of Standard way back in the 2012/13 season. He spent the last 9 years oversees, his last job in Belgium was at Mouscron in 2016/17. As is the case with the cash-starved Standard the personnel changed a lot this summer too. Already 12 players have left, while 10 new have arrived. Rednic is a much more attack-minded manager and he invested the money he was given mainly on the front line. New wingers Said and Abid should play a lot. Experienced striker Henry joins to replace the top goalscorer from last season Zeqiri. Made a few good signings in midfield too. Nielsen arrives from the vice-champions Club Brugge and he is expected to play a key role. Ilaimaharitra and Mehssatou came from Kortrijk, both can be useful players. The former is seen as a like-for-like replacement for Lazare. The right wing-back Fossey was made the new captain and he clearly has qualities that the new head coach cherishes. Not much has been done to improve the defence so far. This could backfire as both Bates and Ngoy missed most of last season. More injuries to them and the manager will be forced to rely on young and inexperienced players.

Target


The only goal is to avoid relegation. Not likely to challenge for a top 9 finish.