UEFA Feyenoord - Standard Liège
Last time I had an argument with Sweem about Standard's game against Rijeka. I told Sweem that the intrinsic value of the Standard players are more valuable then Rijeka's. In the end...Standard played well and Rijeka missed couple shots that could be gamechanging.
Tonight is a different story
Standard's mindset
I went to a game of Standard two weeks ago against Waasland-Beveren. A bottom team with no high expectations. Standard won that game with a big amount of luck and a very bad referee. Their headcoach Luzon (a real piece of work) mentioned that Standard has a good flow going on with 3 wins and 1 draw.
But let's be real. Standard won against Waasland-Beveren, against Heist (second division Belgium Cup) and Rijeka. They played a draw against Lierse last weekend. A 2-0 start, given away...sad story. Lierse is a sucky team...
One of Standard's keyplayers, Carcela, is out for couple of weeks. He's a machine and most of all, a big drama queen. He has the gift of making schwalbes at his best and getting free kicks for his theater. Without Carcela, the right wing is nothing.
Another joke is Jeff Louis. Everybody is hot about him. Really this is typical Belgium football...giving players respect for nothing. Louis is a mediocre player with no insight. No experience and has a lack of skill. In my opinion not worthy to be a key player for this game.
DeCamargo, Standard's attacker, is a good player with lots of motivation but...old. Darn old man. No 90 minutes for him, no way. Against this young Feyenoord, I hope he doesn't barf on field.
Standard' s midfield and defense is not good and their facing a very young Feyenoord with lots of skilled players. More pace and more insight.
Feyenoord's young team
It's no lie, we must admit that because of the excellent performance of the Netherlands in the World Cup, many Feyenoord players are sold to bigger leagues.
At this moment it's a team with no cohesion and a very bad performance in first division. Last games are 1 win and 4 losses.
Including Sevilla and Ajax...so keep those losses in mind.
First division in the Netherlands is way more attractive then Belgium's Pro League. So, levelwise, Feyenoord is more experienced then Standard.
With this young team against Standard's old defense (Van Damme, Ciman) they have an advantage. Also an home advantage. Standard has the largest fanbase and almost 2500 fans are travelling to Rotterdam but comparing to Feyenoords fanbase, it's peanuts.
Key elements
* Old and slow defence of Standard
* Carcela injured
* Young and fast team of Feyenoord
* First difficult meeting for Standard in months
My pick Feyenoord ML at 1.75
open for discussion
Perry