Aug 28
Oguchi Onyewu And Standard Liege Knocked out of Champions League
It took a long time for Liverpool to score on a strong Liege defense, but when it came, it was bittersweet for American defender Oguchi Onyewu. Gooch played a flawless match, practically taking Fernando Torres out of the game, but Liege lost on a goal two minutes from the end of extra time and crashed out of the Champions League earlier than they maybe deserved.
So why is this bittersweet for Oguchi Onyewu. Obviously he wanted to make the Champions League group stage, but at the same time, this means he is much more likely to leave Liege for the host of clubs who are after his signature. Liege were not going to sell Onyewu before the Liverpool match, and if they had gone through to the Champions League group stage, the chance they would have sold Onyewu was very low.
So Liege’s exit now means that Gooch is cleared for a move, and he set himself up well with a great showing against arguably the most dangerous striker in the world. There were numerous scouts at the game last night, and Gooch didn’t disappoint any of them who were looking at him.
What do you think of Liege’s early exit? Did any of you watch Gooch’s great performance? Your thoughts on any potential transfer of Gooch below.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:13 am
He really did look great yesterday (minus a takedown in the box which some refs would have given a PK). I really think his best destination would be Italy or France. In these leagues I think he’d be best suited with one of the big clubs like Inter or Lazio and Marseille or Lyon. That being said, it would kind of suck though because he is no longer eligible for Champoions League play. My question is would he still be able to play ion the UEFA Cup with another team? Bottom line….The time for him to make the long anticipated move is NOW. And boy does he look scary with being absolutely jacked, shaved head and a big beard; not to mention that boxing tape job he always wears on his hands.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
yeah, he is a freak of nature. He’s tall strong scary and a good soccer player. I’d like to see him go to Italy because it would teach him how to defend 1v.1 much better. He’s great in the air, but he needs to work on defending attackers coming at him with the ball on his feet.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I guess his main weakness is his lack of pace but he uses his size very well to muscle defenders off the ball. I often think he’s wrongly targeted by officals though because of his size.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:27 am
he definitely a target because of his size. He moves people around when he goes up for headers naturally, and sometimes officials misinterpret it as a foul. (eg. world cup against ghana)
August 28th, 2008 at 11:38 am
That was the worst friggin call ever……Hopefully we’ll hear something today because the clock is really sunning out
August 28th, 2008 at 11:58 am
ive just got word that there was an official bid put in last night, not sure by who yet though and that should get the ball rolling on this thing. The new team im hearing is Espanyol, that would be a great move in my opinion.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
He could do well in La Liga also, but I still think he’d be an ideal central defender for Inter.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
i’d like to see him at a big club like inter, but what happens when guys like chivu come back form injury. I don’t want to see him buried on the bench either. that’s why I like the move to Espanyol.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
How do y’all watch these games?
August 28th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
my p2p.eu
you might have to download some software, but most of these games can be seen on that website even though the feeds are bad often.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
oh great. thanks alot
August 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Seems like something will happen in the next 36 hours. What do you think his price is? I’m saying about $8M. According to his agent, the 26-year old has received official overtures from glamour clubs in France and Spain, as well as a bid from the Premiership, less than 24 hours after his team’s heartbreaking 1-0 loss at Anfield.
“We’ve been talking with a La Liga club for 10 days,” Lyle Yorks told Soccer365, adding later, “It’s a big club. I can say that.”
“After last night’s game, we had discussions with a Premier League club and one of the top teams in France.”
Slightly complicating matters is a new rule for next season that allows the Belgian champ to move straight to the group stage, whereas Standard were forced to qualify this year.
“The problem is all about his price,” said Yorks. “Keeping Gooch has become important to Standard, so his price is higher than it normally would be for a player in the last year of his contract.”
—-I wonder what Big club in La Liga he’s speaking of. I woudn’t necessarily consider Espanyol a “big” club so I’m wondering if another Spanish team has jumped into the race for his signature.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
wow! that’s interesting. I’d say he’s about 90% gone right now. We’ll just have to wait and see.